Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council's refusal to investigate her complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council acted dishonestly when it removed her from the care of a family member and placed her with a parent. The Council refused to investigate its past actions.
2. Miss X says this placed her at risk of abuse and she now suffers from complex PTSD as a result. It also had an impact on her access to education.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We consider 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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
  (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. I was not considering the events Miss X complained about from her childhood, I was considering the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint.
7. Miss X asked the Council to investigate its actions under the Statutory Complaints Procedure. The Council refused to investigate and provided its reasons to Miss X.
8. Our role is not to ask whether an organisation could have done things better, or whether we agree or disagree with what it did. Instead, we look at whether there was fault in how it made its decisions. If we decide there was no fault in how it did so, we cannot ask whether it should have made a particular decision or say it should have reached a different outcome.
9. The Council said it would not be able to investigate Miss X’s complaint due to the amount of time passed, and because staff involved in her care were no longer available for interview.
10. There does not appear to be enough evidence of fault in how it made this decision therefore we will not investigate.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman