Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with a child protection matter because there is not enough evidence of fault.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council did not carry out its child protection enquiries correctly. She also complained the Council did not deal with her complaint under the children’s statutory complaint procedure and did not respond to her subject access request properly.
2. Ms X asked this office to recommend the Council considers her complaint under the statutory procedure, reviews its child protection assessment, allow her access to documents, apologise to her and make a payment in recognition of distress caused.

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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, or any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

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

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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. The Council has carried out child protection enquiries and completed an assessment in relation to Ms X's children and Ms X has complained about the way this was done.
7. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaints, explaining why it did not agree that it had behaved inappropriately.
8. Ms X asked the Council to provide her with a stage two response under the Children’s Act statutory complaints procedure. The Council has explained the complaints raised do not fall under the scope of that procedure.
9. Under section 47 of the Children Act 1989, where a council has reasonable cause to suspect that a child in their area is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, it has a duty to make such enquiries as it considers necessary to decide whether to take any action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare. Such enquiries should be initiated where there are concerns about abuse or neglect.
10. Section 47 of the Act places a duty on agencies, but mainly the council and the police, to make “such enquiries as they consider necessary to enable them to decide whether to take action to safeguard or promote the welfare of a child in their area”.
11. Although Ms X is unhappy with the way the Council has made its enquiries, I have not been provided with sufficient evidence the Council is at fault to warrant an investigation into this.
12. On the complaints process the Council has used, the Council is correct in saying the statutory procedure does not apply to section 47 matters.
13. The Children Act 1989 established the requirement for councils to have a formal representations procedure to deal with complaints about local authority functions under Part 3 of the Act and some sections of Parts 4 and 5. We call this ‘the children’s statutory complaints procedure’.
14. Part 2 of The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 explains which matters are covered by the procedure.
15. Section 47 (child protection) of the Children Act is one of the main children’s areas that does not come under the statutory procedure.
16. Ms X also complained about how the Council dealt with a Subject Access Request. Such complaints should be directed to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Ms X’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