Summary: We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint about the Council’s response to his safeguarding referral. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr Y complains the Council decided to take no further action on his safeguarding referral concerning his children and an adult receiving care. He says the Council’s decision left his children and the adult at risk of harm. Mr Y wants the Council to take action to safeguard the people concerned.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. 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.)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. A council must make enquiries if it thinks, or receives concerns, that an adult may be at risk of abuse or neglect and has care and support needs which mean the person cannot protect themselves.
6. Where a council receives concerns from anyone about a child’s welfare, it should make initial enquiries of agencies involved with the child and family, for example, health visitor, GP, schools and nurseries. The council should gather this information so it can assess the nature and level of harm the child may be facing. The assessment may result in:

• no further action;
• a decision to carry out a more detailed assessment of the child’s needs; or
• a decision to convene a strategy meeting.

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Mr Y’s case

7. Mr Y made a safeguarding referral to the Council related to the welfare of his children and a vulnerable adult. The Council’s Adult Social Care Team and Children’s Services both considered the referral but decided to take no further action.
8. In its complaint response to Mr Y, the Council explained how it reviewed Mr Y’s safeguarding referral. This included triaging the referral through its safeguarding team and considering it under its Adult Social Care team and Children’s Services.
9. The Council confirmed a social worker had shared information with relevant parties working with the concerned adult and made enquiries about the adult. From its enquiries, the Council was satisfied no harm or abuse had occurred and decided to take no further action.
10. The Council explained a manager in Children’s services also reviewed and recorded Mr Y’s referral. The Council decided to take no further action because it found no safeguarding concern for Mr Y’s children. It provided contact details for Children’s Services if Mr Y wanted to directly discuss his concerns further.
11. We will not investigate this complaint. The Council has explained how it considered Mr Y’s safeguarding referral within its statutory duties and the reasons it decided to take no further action. The Council appears to have appropriately considered the matter before reaching its decision. We are unlikely to find fault with the Council’s decision-making process so we will not investigate.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman