Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that a safeguarding referral was unlawfully made and then considered by the Local Authority Designated Officer. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains that a safeguarding referral was unlawfully made and then considered by the Council’s Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). Mrs X also says that the Council committed a data breach when it shared her information and that it did not properly deal with her complaints.

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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, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. I cannot investigate a complaint about the decision to make the referral, how the complaint was investigated or any decisions that were made regarding disciplinary action. This is because these actions were carried out by Mrs X’s employer and not the Council. We have no discretion to investigate the actions of bodies for which we have no jurisdiction over.
7. Mrs X complains that the Council should not have accepted a referral because the third party involved was an adult. However, statutory guidance and the Council’s safeguarding policy does not place such restrictions on LADO referrals and for this reason it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council for processing the referral under the LADO process.
8. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council committed a data breach when it shared her personal information. This is because the Information Commissioner is better placed to consider complaints about data protection matters.
9. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman