Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a children services’ safeguarding assessment. We are unlikely to achieve significantly more than the Council’s response in its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about a Council’s children services’ assessment.

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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
• 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 Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council says it received a safeguarding referral from School Y in November 2024 about Ms X’s child, Z. Ms X disputes the referral’s necessity. The Council completed an assessment which it shared with Ms X in March 2025. It took no further action.
6. Ms X complained to the Council about the assessment. She was unhappy with how the Council carried it out, the time taken to complete it and related matters. The Council considered her complaint in its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure.
7. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about some children’s social care services.
8. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution.
9. If a complainant is not happy with a council’s stage one response, they can ask that it is considered at stage two. At this stage of the procedure, councils appoint an investigating officer (IO) to look into the complaint and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring its independence. Then a senior manager (the adjudicating officer) at the council considers the IO report and any report from the IP. They decide what the council’s response to the complaint will be, including what action it will take. They write to the complainant with a copy of the investigation report, any report from the independent person and the adjudication response.
10. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel. The Council considered Ms X’s complaint within all three stages of this procedure. It finished in September 2025.
11. The Council accepted at stage two that the assessment should have been completed and shared in January. It apologised. It largely did not accept the rest of her complaint. Ms X disagrees. She says she should receive £500 000 for the emotional distress to her family.
12. The statutory children’s complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough and prompt response to their concerns. Because of this, if a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it. There are no reasons to do so here.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we are unlikely to achieve a significantly different outcome to the Council’s response within its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman