Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to the complainant’s concerns about his children’s welfare. This is because we cannot achieve the outcomes the complainant is seeking.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains that the Council has failed to take appropriate action in response to his concerns about his children’s welfare. As a result, they have been left at risk of harm.

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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 cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (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. Mr X has concerns about his children’s welfare when they are in their mother’s care. The correspondence he has provided shows that they were subject to Child in Need (CiN) plans. Mr X complains that the Council has failed to take proper account of his concerns and has acted with bias towards the children’s mother.
6. The Council has decided to cease the CiN plans and close its case. It says it has done so on the basis that it has not identified that the children are at risk of significant harm and that its work with the family has been ineffective, in part due to parental conflict.
7. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision to close its case. He wants the Council to continue with the CiN plans, involve a child psychologist and change the children’s social worker.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcomes he is seeking. The Ombudsman cannot comment on whether a CiN plan is applicable in the case of Mr’ X’s children, or in any specific case. Neither is it for us to take a view on whether the involvement of a child psychologist is appropriate. These are matters for the professional judgement of the Council’s officers.
9. Mr X disagrees with the Council’s decision to close its case, but that does not mean it amounts to fault. The Council’s reasons are properly set out in the correspondence and appear reasonable and defensible in the circumstances of the case. The Ombudsman cannot intervene to criticise the decision to close the case or to substitute an alternative view.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcomes he is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman