Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to act to safeguard the complainant’s grandson. The complaint has already been upheld and our intervention would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs X, complains that the Council failed to act to safeguard her grandson, leaving him in an environment where he was subject to abuse.

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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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(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. Mrs X has care of her grandson under a Special Guardianship Order. She says her grandson who was previously regarded by the Council as a Child in Need, is vulnerable. Her complaint relates to a three-month period when her grandson went to live with another family, and what she regards as the Council’s failure to respond appropriately.
6. During this period, Mrs X says the Council failed to recognise that her grandson was at risk of abuse. As a result, it failed to intervene and did not use its powers to remove him from an environment where he was not being safeguarded. She says that, because the Council failed to act, he suffered abuse.
7. Mrs X made a complaint to the Council, which was considered under the statutory procedure for children’s services complaints. At Stage 2 of the procedure, three of the four parts of the complaint were upheld. The remaining part was upheld at the final stage.
8. Having upheld the complaint, the Council apologised for the identified fault and accepted the recommendations made during the procedure. As Mrs X had requested, it agreed to carry out an assessment to consider whether her grandson had unmet needs.
9. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The statutory procedure provides a robust and transparent process by which complaints about children’s services can be investigated. Where a complaint has been properly considered under this procedure, there is not normally a role for the Ombudsman. That is the case here.
10. Mrs X’s complaint has been upheld in full, so there is nothing further to investigate. The actions the Council agreed to carry out appear reasonable and proportionate and the Ombudsman’s intervention would not lead to a different outcome.
11. If Mrs X is unhappy with the outcome of the assessment the Council subsequently carried out, she may complain to the Council about it. This matter did not form part of her complaint to the Council, so it does not fall to us to consider it.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The complaint has already been upheld and our intervention would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman