Summary: We will not investigate the Council’s decision not to accept Mrs X’s complaint because it did not consider her a suitable representative. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint in which she raised concerns about the care and welfare of children in her family for which she does not have parental responsibility.

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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)).

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X complained to the Council, raising concerns about children in her family for which she does not have parental responsibility.
6. The Council told Mrs X it could not consider her complaint through its complaints procedure. It explained it can only accept and consider complaints where the person making the complaint had parental responsibility for the children involved. This is not the case here. It confirmed that it had shared Mrs X’s concerns around contact with the team manager in social services who would contact her directly.
7. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision not to accept her complaint because she does not have parental responsibility for the children. The Council’s decision is in line with the statutory guidance for local authority children’s services on handling complaints. In addition, it has offered a practical way forward to resolve the issue Mrs X is unhappy about.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman