Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council failing to take children safeguarding action during an incident and failing to investigate how another body dealt with that incident. We are unlikely to find fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council failed to take safeguarding action and failed to investigate a safeguarding incident.

Back to top

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))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council’s replies to her complaint.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. In March 2025 Miss X became injured and needed urgent hospital treatment while attending a meeting at Y. An ambulance took her to hospital. She says the people at Y failed to properly care for her children while she was in hospital. She complained to the Council. She says the Council failed to carry out a safeguarding investigation into the incident.
6. The Council says it was not for it to safeguard her children while she briefly attended hospital. It says it decided not to investigate her request about Y’s treatment of her children. It explained Y had told the Council the children were supervised whilst there.

Analysis

7. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council not taking safeguarding action during the incident as there is no evidence it knew anything about it.
8. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s decision not to investigate how Y acted. We are unlikely to find fault in such professional decisions unless there is significant fault in the decision process which could have made a difference. The Council considered Y’s views, and Miss X’s comments. We are unlikely to say it should have done more before reaching its view.

Back to top

Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we are unlikely to find fault.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman