Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with a safeguarding concern. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about how the Council dealt with his complaint about safeguarding concerns he made about the care of his child.

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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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
3. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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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. Mr X raised a safeguarding concern with the Council about the care of his child. The Council considered Mr X’s referral, reviewed documents Mr X provided to support his claims and spoke with the mother or Mr X’s child. It found that there was no evidence to support Mr X’s claims and therefore it had no concerns about the care of his child.
7. The Council invited Mr X to provide any additional information to support his claims. The Council refused to progress his complaint further as it felt Mr X had not fully explained his reasoning and because he had not provided any evidence to support his claims as previously requested.
8. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. There is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council considered his safeguarding concerns. It reviewed relevant information and fully explained and justified its decision to take no further action. In the absence of fault, we cannot question the Council’s decision.
9. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman