Summary: The Ombudsman should not investigate Ms J’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with her family. We have already considered and decided the main issues raised, and it is unlikely we would find fault in how the Council has dealt with her contact expenses.

The complaint

1. Ms J, who shares parental responsibility with her ex partner and with the Council, complains that the Council:
• does not adequately involve her in her child’s life
• has not provided information about her child, and
• has not reimbursed her contact expenses.

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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’.
3. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We will not consider the same matters more than once. And we may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault.

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered the information Ms J’s representative provided with her complaint, and information provided by the Council when we checked it had completed its consideration of the complaint. I gave Ms J, through her representative, the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. We concluded an investigation into Ms J’s previous complaint about the Council earlier this year. Our investigation considered the Council’s involvement of Ms J in her child’s life, and the information the Council shares with Ms J about her child. We will not consider this again, and we would not expect the Council to investigate it again either.
6. It is also worth noting that as Ms J’s child grows older, Ms J’s involvement, and the information provided to her, is likely to reduce. This is a natural consequence of a young person gaining a degree of control over their own life and is not evidence of fault by the Council.
7. With respect to the contact expenses, the Council says it is waiting for Ms J to submit receipts. So it is unlikely we would find fault if we investigated this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman should not investigate this complaint. This is because we have already considered and decided the main issues raised, and it is unlikely we would find fault in how the Council has dealt with Ms J’s contact expenses.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman