Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s children’s social care assessment and the conduct of its social worker during that assessment. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s assessment and Social Work England is best placed to respond to any conduct concerns.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s children’s social care assessment. She says the social worker who completed the assessment:
• asked inappropriate and intrusive questions;
• did not consider an updated police statement in its assessment; and
• wrongly decided to restrict her children’s contact with her partner.
2. She also complains the Council mishandled her complaint by failing to engage with her data protection concerns and mischaracterising her complaint as a human resources matter.
3. Miss X says the matter has caused her distress. She wants the Council to apologise and acknowledge its failings. She also wants the Council to review the social worker’s conduct and provide assurance that it considered her updated police statement in its assessment. She further wants the Council to carry out a data protection assessment.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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 cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

5. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Children’s social care assessment

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s children’s social care assessment, or the questions the social worker asked during the assessment. In the assessment, the Council considered the views of all relevant parties, including her account. It explained it asked questions to understand Miss X’s child’s individual circumstances. This is in line with the Council’s safeguarding duties and there is not enough evidence of fault to justify us investigating.
9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the social workers conduct. The Ombudsman cannot investigate whether social workers are meeting their professional standards of conduct. Complaints of this nature should be referred to the social workers’ professional body, Social Work England (SWE).
10. We also cannot investigate any decision about contact restrictions or care arrangements. The Council has advised that Miss X’s children are currently in the care of the other parent. If Miss X is dissatisfied with this arrangement then this is a matter for the Courts.

Data protection

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about alleged data breaches. Complaints of this nature are better placed with the Information Commissioner, which is the national regulatory body responsible for upholding information rights, data privacy and data protection.

Complaint handling

12. Miss X also complains about the Council’s handling of her complaint, including delays in responding to her complaint and mischaracterising her complaint as a human resource matter. As a publicly funded body we must be careful in how we use our resources. As we are not investigating the substantive issues of Miss X’s complaint, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate the complaint handling in isolation. Therefore, I will not investigate this aspect of her complaint.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s assessment and Social Work England is best placed to respond to any conduct concerns.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman