Summary: Ms B complains there was fault in the way the Council dealt with her and that it is restricting her ability to make contact and complaints. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because previous complaints about the Council’s actions have already been considered by the Ombudsman and because there are insufficient grounds to warrant investigation into other matters raised by Ms B.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms B, says there was fault in the way the Council dealt with her and that it placed restrictions on how she can contact the Council and make complaints. She also says it is stopping her from acting as an advocate for other service users.

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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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Ms B and the Council. I gave Ms B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision and considered the comments she made.

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What I found

4. In previous years Ms B complained to the Ombudsman about matters relating to the way the Council had dealt with her, particularly concerning a child in her care. We considered the complaints and informed Ms B of our decisions on them.
5. Ms B continued to make complaints to the Council relating to similar matters to those already considered. In October 2018, the Council decided to implement special contact measures against her whereby it told Ms B that its Children’s Social Care Team would only accept complaints from her in writing and only involving her own immediate family. It confirmed it would not discuss the case of any current or future service user with her outside her immediate family but it clarified that this did not affect her right to access and make contact with other Council services. The Council told Ms B the special contact measures would remain in place for 6 months, after which time they would be reviewed to see if it would be appropriate to continue with them.
6. These restrictions on how Ms B can contact the Children’s Social Care Team and make complaints have now been lifted although the Council has confirmed it will not discuss any other case with her outside her immediate family and it remains the case that it will not accept her as an advocate for any parent with whom its Children’s Services are involved.

Assessment

7. Complaints about matters previously considered by the Ombudsman will not be revisited. Past events will have been taken into account by the Council when it decided not to accept Ms B as an advocate for other service users. While I understand Ms B says she has a drive to represent and help others, any injustice caused to her by not acting as an advocate is limited and there are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation by the Ombudsman.
8. The Council did not ban Ms B from using its complaints procedure or contacting its services. It did decide to introduce special contact measures to govern her contact with its Children’s Social Care Team and it explained to Ms B why it took this action. As it said it would, it reviewed matters at the end of the 6 months period and has now lifted the restrictions so she can now make contact and complaints concerning her own and her immediate family’s issues in the normal way. There are insufficient grounds to warrant an investigation of these matters by the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint because previous complaints about the Council’s actions have already been considered by the Ombudsman and because there are insufficient grounds to warrant investigation into other matters raised by Ms B.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman