Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council’s social worker acted outside her role while advising the police. This is because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains that a social worker acted outside her role in influencing the police to impose bail conditions preventing her from seeing her son.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Miss X is subject to bail conditions which prevent her from having unsupervised contact with her son. Miss X says advice the Council’s social worker gave to the police caused them to impose this condition, effectively denying her contact. She argues that the social worker exceeded her role in advising the police in this way.
6. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part. The bail conditions are a matter for the police, who were entitled take account of the Council’s views. Miss X disagrees with the advice the social worker gave, but that does not mean it amounts to fault. There are no grounds for us to intervene.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman