Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council (25 028 883)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a telephone call from an officer in the team around the school because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s response.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about his dealings with an officer in the Council’s team around the school. He complains about a telephone call he received in December 2024 following allegations made by his ex-wife which he says the officer accepted at face value. He is unhappy with the Council’s response to his complaint. He wants the officer to be held accountable for his actions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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 Council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- I have carefully considered everything Mr X said, although I have not included every detail here. I have included as few details as possible to protect the anonymity of Mr X and his family.
- Mr X complained to the Council following the telephone call. He said he wanted to speak with a manager to set the record straight.
- The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint at both stages of its complaints process. A manager spoke to Mr X and acknowledged the Council needed to do more to consult fathers and said this would form part of training. The Council said it would add a note to the children’s files to record the context of the Council’s involvement and invited Mr X to provide any documents he wished to add. The Council apologised.
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s response. We do not recommend action against individuals. This is a matter for the Council.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s response.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman