Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to the complainant’s enquiries about a safeguarding matter and its decision not to accept a complaint about that response. Any injustice caused to the complainant by the Council’s actions is not so significant as to warrant our intervention.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, says the Council failed to respond reasonably to her enquiries about a safeguarding check relating to her child’s welfare, and unreasonably declined to accept her complaint.

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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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (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. Miss X’s child was the subject of court proceedings relating to his care, which she says concluded in May 2025. Miss X says the court directed another local authority to carry out a safeguarding check on her child’s father and his partner, who resided in its area.
6. Miss X contacted the Council, which is her home authority, to express her concerns about her son’s safety. She was unhappy with its response, particularly that of its service providing support for victims of domestic and sexual abuse.
7. The Council told her it would not consider her subsequent complaint because the legal proceedings were ongoing. Miss X says this is factually inaccurate, as the proceedings had concluded at the point at which she contacted the Council.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The court ordered the authority concerned to carry out the safeguarding check and the Council has confirmed that it responded to the information request it received. It had no other role in the check. Whether the Council could have responded to Miss X’s contact in a different way is not so significant a matter as to warrant the Ombudsman’s intervention.
9. Where a complaint does not fall to be investigated the Ombudsman will not normally consider how a council has responded to a complaint about it. It is not a good use of our resources to do so. That is the case here.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because any injustice caused to her by the Council’s actions is not so significant as to warrant investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman