Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the conduct of a council social worker. This is because the Council has taken appropriate action to resolve Mrs X’s concerns and we cannot say the actions complained about caused her significant injustice.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the conduct of a council social worker before and during a child protection conference. She says the social worker was rude, sexist and made judgements about her family without properly investigating. She also complains they prepared an inadequate report and did not include all relevant agencies at the child protection conference.
2. Mrs X says the social worker’s actions caused her and her family significant distress and she questions whether they are fit to continue in their role.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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,
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained,
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement,
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

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

4. The Ombudsman cannot investigate whether social workers are meeting their professional standards of conduct. Complaints of this nature should be referred to the social workers’ professional body, Social Work England.

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Council has considered Mrs X’s concerns and addressed them with the social worker, who accepted they could have handled some aspects of the situation better. They committed to improving their practice and the Council agreed to Mrs X’s request to assign a different social worker.
8. I am satisfied the Council’s actions to address the issue were appropriate and proportionate and I do not consider any further remedy is warranted. Mrs X was able to raise her concerns about the social worker’s actions and their findings as part of the child protection conference and there is no suggestion the outcome of the conference was wrongly affected by their actions.
9. We cannot in any event question the social worker’s professional judgement or decide whether they have met professional standards. Any outstanding concerns Mrs X has about this are better addressed by contacting Social Work England.
10. In relation to Mrs X’s concerns the social worker failed to include all agencies in the child protection conference, the evidence I have seen shows the Council did contact all relevant agencies as part of the child and family assessment process. While I acknowledge that not all agencies attended the conference, there is not enough evidence to show this wrongly affected the outcome and I am satisfied the views of relevant parties were taken into account in the final decision.

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Final decision

We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the Council has taken appropriate action to remedy Mrs X’s concerns and we cannot say the actions she complains about caused her significant injustice. It is therefore unlikely investigation would achieve any worthwhile outcome for Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman