Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to arrange contact between her and a relative who is in care. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement, and we cannot achieve the outcome sought by Mrs X.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to arrange contact between her and a relative (Y) who is in care.
2. Mrs X said this caused distress to her family.

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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
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(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. Y is a child who is looked after by the Council.
7. Mrs X is a relative of Y and complained the Council failed to arrange for them to have contact sessions.
8. The Council refused to consider Mrs X’s complaint. It said its decision-making was led by Y’s wishes and therefore could not be considered through its complaints procedure.
9. The available evidence suggests the Council acted in line with Y’s wishes when considering contact arrangements. Y said they did not want contact with Mrs X or her family. Therefore, the Council informed Mrs X of Y’s wishes and did not arrange contact.
10. The Council said it will keep any letters or images Mrs X wants to share with Y, until Y is ready to accept them.
11. While I recognise Mrs X is upset by this decision, we are unlikely to find the Council at fault here. It is reasonable that its decision-making about contact with relatives who do not hold parental responsibility, is led by Y’s wishes. Therefore, we will not investigate.
12. In any case, Mrs X’s desired outcome is for the Council to dismiss the staff involved. The Ombudsman cannot tell the Council it should discipline its staff. Therefore, even if we were to investigate, we could not achieve the outcome Mrs X seeks.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome sought by Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman