Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children services’ actions as we are unlikely to achieve more than has already been offered.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s children services teams handling of her family’s case.

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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:
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation; or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council’s replies to her.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council’s children services team became involved with Miss X in 2023 when her child Y, was looked after for a while. In March 2024 the Police accommodated Y under a Police Protection Order. The Council obtained an interim care order days later and then a full Care Order in December 2024. The Court also made deprivation of liberty ( DoL) orders during 2024.
7. Miss X complained to the Council in March 2025 about its communication with her throughout, errors in its records and reports, and, the social work actions on its case. She also said the Council has failed to pay for her accommodation when she visited Y whilst Y was accommodated in another part of England.
8. The Council replied within its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure. It completed the third stage in October 2025. It accepted its communication had been poor with her. It offered Miss X £1050 for the distress caused and made some service improvements. It signposted her to its own data protection procedures for complaints about its records.
9. Miss X says she wants a full independent investigation. She says she wants financial compensation that reflects the depth of the emotional, psychological and practical harm she says she has suffered.

Analysis

10. We cannot look at the content or preparation of any of the documents which were used in the Court proceedings.
11. Miss X has the right to request records are ‘rectified’. This means any factual inaccuracies are corrected. If the Council refuses to do so, she can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Parliament set up the ICO to consider data protection disputes which includes ‘right to rectification’ disputes. The ICO are better placed than us to consider if the Council should change its records particularly because there are complex exemptions for child protection case files.
12. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at some complaints about children’s social care services.
13. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
14. If a complainant is not happy with a council’s stage one response, they can ask that it is considered at stage two. At this stage of the procedure, councils appoint an investigating officer (IO) to look into the complaint and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring its independence.
15. Following the investigation, a senior manager (the adjudicating officer) at the council should carry out an adjudication. The officer considers the IO report and any report from the IP. They decide what the council’s response to the complaint will be, including what action it will take. The adjudicating officer should then write to the complainant with a copy of the investigation report, any report from the independent person and the adjudication response.
16. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel
17. The statutory children’s complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough and prompt response to their concerns. Because of this, if a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it. I see no reason to do so here.
18. We do not recommend compensation. We do recommend symbolic payments in some cases. We are unlikely to achieve more than the Council has already offered.

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Final decision

19. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we are unlikely to achieve more than the Council has already offered.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman