Norfolk County Council (24 001 326)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 11-Jun-2024

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaints about the Council’s report for court or the conduct of a social worker because these matters happened during court proceedings. Social Work England is better placed to consider Mr X’s complaint about an individual social worker’s professional practice.

Dorset Council (24 001 528)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 11-Jun-2024

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about a social worker’s evidence to the court during court proceedings because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.

Norfolk County Council (24 001 032)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 09-Jun-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about missed payments by the Council for nursery fees. The Council has confirmed that rather than paying Miss X, it mistakenly paid the nursery directly. There is not enough remaining injustice to Miss X to warrant our further involvement.

Cheshire East Council (24 000 612)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 06-Jun-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker in relation to Miss X. There has been recent court action in respect of one of Miss X’s children, and we are legally prevented from investigating matters that have been or could reasonably have been raised in court. Investigating the content of a phone call where there were no independent witnesses would be unlikely to lead to a finding of fault or to the outcome Miss X is seeking.

Hartlepool Borough Council (24 000 249)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 30-May-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the content of an agreement of expectations because there is not a good reason for the delay in bringing the matter to the Ombudsman. We will not investigate the breakdown of that agreement because it would be reasonable for Mrs X to pursue the matter in court.

Hartlepool Borough Council (24 000 753)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 30-May-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a safeguarding referral involving Ms X and the Council’s subsequent actions. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on which complaints we investigate. There is not enough evidence of fault and other agencies are better placed to consider the complaint. More importantly, we cannot achieve the outcomes Ms X wants, and an investigation would be unlikely to lead to a different result.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (24 002 367)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 29-May-2024

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a social worker’s report because it was used in the family court during private law proceedings between Mr X and another party. We have no remit to look at what was decided in court.

Leicestershire County Council (23 013 577)

Statement Upheld Other 28-May-2024

Summary: Mrs Y complains the Council shared her identity when acting upon concerns she raised about the safety of her grandchildren. We find the Council did not follow its procedures when dealing with the concerns. It should have discussed the concerns with Mrs Y and clarified the extent to which her anonymity could be protected. This caused significant distress which the Council has agreed to provide a remedy for.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council (23 019 736)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 23-May-2024

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council used inaccurate records at court. This is because we cannot investigate what happened in court.

Leicestershire County Council (24 000 299)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 23-May-2024

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s child protection actions concerning Mr X’s family. This would be unlikely to lead to a different or worthwhile outcome from that already achieved as the result of the Council’s investigation. We would be unlikely to establish the claimed injustice was the sole result of failings by the Council. The Council has also agreed to correct any factual inaccuracies in its records and to refer Mr X to the Information Commissioner’s Office if he remains dissatisfied when it has done that.