Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council failed to produce a safety plan for her grandchild. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault. We cannot add to the Council’s response about a lack of home visits to her grandchild.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s involvement in child protection matters concerning her grandson, Y. Mrs X says that her son, Mr Z, was arrested for breaching a safety plan that did not exist, that the safety plan was not shared with her and that the Council failed to visit her grandchild at home.

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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
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.

(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 the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council carried out a family assessment after concerns were received about Mr Z’s son (Mrs X’s grandson) which led to Mr Z being arrested and bailed. The assessment contained a family plan which stated what should happen to ensure the safety of the child.
6. Mrs X complained to the Council that Mr Z was later arrested after the Council informed the police that he had not adhered to a safety plan. She said no safety plan existed, it had not been shared with her and that visits had not been carried out to the child at home.
7. The Council says that there is no requirement for it to have a standalone safety plan and that the plan to ensure the safety of the child was explicitly stated in the family assessment. It said this was not shared with Mrs X as she did not have parental responsibility for the child at the time. It said that whilst visits to the child had been carried out at school, further visits should have taken place at the child’s home, and it would remind staff about the importance of this.
8. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the safety plan. There is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council in regard to how it recorded its plan to ensure the safety of Y. The family plan clearly details the steps the Council believed those involved with the child should take. There is no requirement for a separate safety plan to be produced. The Council has fully justified why it did not share the family plan with Mrs X at the time.
9. I will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council has accepted that visits should have been carried out and that appropriate steps were taken to avoid this issue reoccurring. Investigation into this point would not add to the one carried out by the Council.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is either insufficient evidence of fault or we could not add to the Council’s response.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman