Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (25 017 681)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to safeguarding concerns he raised because there is insufficient evidence of fault and he has not suffered a personal injustice.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the actions of a local councillor. He reported his concerns to the Council. He said they were safeguarding concerns. He complains about the Council’s response.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complains about the actions of a local councillor. I have not included the details here to ensure his anonymity. He reported his concerns to the Council and asked the Council to respond under procedures for safeguarding children. The Council considered Mr X’s concerns but decided they were not safeguarding concerns. Unhappy with the Council’s response, Mr X complained to us.
- Mr X says he is the only person ensuring the Council fulfils its statutory duties.
- There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision the concerns raised by Mr X are not safeguarding concerns to justify an investigation.
- Mr X has not suffered any personal injustice from the actions of the Councillor or the Council. We will not, therefore, pursue his complaint.
- Mr X said he also had concerns about data protection. These are matters for the Information Commissioner’s Office, not for us.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and he has not suffered a personal injustice.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman