Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to consider taking child protection action if her partner returned to live in the family home. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s decision to say it would consider child protection action if her partner returned to live in the family home after he was convicted for a sexual offence.
2. Miss X alleged the Council misread documents about her partner’s legal restrictions and reports from an external organisation, which meant the Council made its decisions based on incorrect information.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended).

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. Miss X’s partner moved out of the household after committing a sexual offence. Miss X and her partner have worked with both the Council and an external organisation with a view to the partner returning to live in the household.
8. The external organisation provided a report to the Council, which said its view was that the partner could return to live in the household.
9. The documents provided by the Council show it took account of the external organisation’s report and the views of Miss X and her partner. The Council gave reasons for its decision to disagree with the external organisation’s view that the partner could return home and said it would consider taking Child Protection action if he did. The Council is entitled to have a different opinion to the external organisation.
10. Therefore the evidence suggests the Council reached its decision properly so, as paragraph 4 explained, we cannot criticise the decision. The Ombudsman is not an appeal body, and it is not for us to say whether an offender should return home.
11. We recognise that Miss X disagrees with the Council’s decision, but this does not amount to evidence of fault in the Council’s decision-making process.

Back to top

Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman