Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children services’ actions. We are unlikely to say she, or the young people involved, have been caused any significant injustice directly because of Council fault.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council’s children services team failed to safeguard two children and failed to support her.

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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; or
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained; or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X which included the Council’s reply to her.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X says a family friend as a young adult, Y, came to stay with her after leaving their family home. Y’s sibling Z, who was 15 at the time, also left their family home in September 2025. Miss X says the Police asked her to temporarily care for Z. Miss X says she agreed. She says she then had great difficulty in getting the Council to help and support her, Y and Z. After a week Z moved to another home away from Miss X.
7. Miss X complained to the Council and then to us in October 2025. It said Z and Y lived with Miss X under a private arrangement and it assessed their needs when it became aware it needed to.

Analysis

8. The Council’s children services team would have no duty towards Y as they were over 18. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council not supporting Y.
9. Z stayed with Miss X for a week. The Council did not place Z with Miss X. It is unlikely we could say it was the Council’s fault that Z needed to leave the family home. There is no suggestion Z was unsafe with Miss X. The time and trouble Miss X used to engage children services, for around only one week, is not comparatively significant enough to justify our investigation.
10. Z and Miss X will need to complain to the Council about the period after Z left Miss X’s care before we could consider it.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of significant injustice directly caused to Miss X, Z or Y by the Council’s fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman