Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council refused to change his children’s social worker. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council refused to change his children’s Social Worker. He said the Social Worker did not communicate with him and was dismissive and rude. He said the Council had refused to give him information. Mr X wants the Council to allocate a new Social Worker.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X complained to the Council about a telephone call he had with his children’s Social Worker. In its response, the Council said the Social Worker had to end the call because Mr X had raised his voice. It confirmed the Social Worker had told Mr X that would happen. It did not uphold Mr X’s complaint.
6. Mr X made a further complaint about an expression the Social Worker had used when responding to a query. The Council acknowledged the phrase used by the Social Worker was unhelpful. It said it would share Mr X’s concerns with the Social Worker and their manager to ensure a better worded response was provided in similar situations. It said it would continue to send him updates about the children.
7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council refused to allocate his children a new Social Worker. The Council has responded to the complaints he has made about the Social Worker and taken appropriate action where necessary to address his concerns. The Council has explained it will not change his children’s social worker as it is not in their best interests. That is a decision it is entitled to make. Further investigation by the Ombudsman will not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation will not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman