Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms A’s complaint about the Council’s actions regarding allegations of abuse it received. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Ms A says the Council should not have relied on information it received about child abuse, should not have threatened people, should look at their policies and procedures regarding safeguarding and listen to credible witnesses. In addition, Ms A says the Council took too long to respond to her complaint and has breached confidentiality.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• 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)

3. The Information Commissioner's Office considers complaints about freedom of information. Its decision notices may be appealed to the First Tier Tribunal (Information Rights). So where we receive complaints about freedom of information, we normally consider it reasonable to expect the person to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Ms A provided. I sent Ms A a copy of my draft decision for comment.

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What I found

5. Ms A is unhappy with the Council’s response to her complaint.
6. Ms A complained to the Council in October 2018 and received a response in May 2019. The Council apologised for the delay.
7. The Council explained some safeguarding investigations do not result in either a positive or negative outcome, however it still has a duty to consider and follow up concerns about risk to children and how they can be kept safe. This includes advice to children and family members regarding supervision of children. It apologised for any concerns caused to Ms A’s family by the Council. The Council has explained it cannot provide Ms A with confidential information about the children in question.
8. While Ms A says the accusations were unfounded, the Council’s duty is to protect children and investigate allegations of abuse. Any actions it takes to do this such as suspending a foster placement or giving advice to family members around supervision are professional decisions. The Ombudsman could say there is any fault with these actions.
9. The Ombudsman could not say Ms A should have access to the documentation she has requested from the Council about other family/foster children. If Ms A believes she is entitled to the information and documentation she wants she can ask the Information Commissioner’s Office to consider her request.
10. Ms A is unhappy with the Council’s delay in responding to her complaint. However, the Ombudsman will not investigate this point. Where the substantive matters do not themselves warrant investigation, the Ombudsman will not normally consider how the Council has responded to a complaint about them. That is the case here.
11. Ms A says the Council has breached confidentiality. Ms A can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if she is concerned information about her has been breached. Information about the ICO can be found on the website below:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/report-a-breach/

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault with the actions taken by the Council to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman