Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to inform the complainant about an allegation made against her son or its decision not to delete its records in relation to the allegation. This is because it is unlikely he could add to the Council’s investigation. The Ombudsman will also not investigate concerns about how the Council manages personal data as there is another body better placed to deal with this matter.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, has complained that the Council failed to tell her about a serious accusation made against her son in 2016. Ms X says the Council holds incorrect and misleading information about the allegation and she would like it to delete its records.

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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 could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered Ms X’s complaint and the Council’s responses. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision and have considered the comments she made in response.

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What I found

4. In 2016, a serious accusation was made against Ms X’s son, Y. Y’s school contacted the police and a referral was made to the Council. The claim against Y was not substantiated and no further action was taken. Ms X did not find out about the allegation until 2018 when she made a Subject Access Request to the Council.
5. Ms X complains that the Council should have told her about the matter at the time. She says its failure to do so has caused her considerable stress and meant she was unable to support her son. Ms X says the Council should destroy its records relating to the allegation and argues the school and police deleted their records as the accusation was found to be vexatious. The Council has refused Ms X’s request. It says it is an agency with safeguarding responsibilities and needs to retain information relating to any allegations made. The Council has accepted that it should have told Ms X about the accusation in 2016 and has apologised. It has also agreed to make some changes to its records to reflect Ms X’s concerns about the language used in its reports.

Assessment

6. The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. This is because it is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman could add to the Council’s response.
7. Ms X would like the Council to delete all records relating to Y. But the Council has explained why it must retain these. It has also apologised for not telling Ms X about its involvement with her son or the allegation made against him. It says it will ensure parents are informed about referrals going forward unless there is a good reason. It also says it will amend its information so any reference to the ‘incident’ will be changed to ‘alleged incident’ and it will consider any further amendment requests Ms X makes. Ms X argues that the police have deleted their records and confirmed that Y was never a suspect. The Council says it will add any information it receives from the police in this regard to its records and notify Y’s school and the police about any changes it makes.
8. I understand Ms X would like all the Council’s information about Y destroyed, but it is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman could achieve any more or add to the Council’s response.
9. Ms X has also complained about how the Council dealt with her complaint. She says it did not reply to her emails and there was a long delay before it responded to her complaint. She also says it sent sensitive information to the wrong address. However, where the Ombudsman has decided not to investigate the substantive issues complained about, we will not usually use public resources to consider more minor issues such as complaint handling. Ms X has also raised concerns about how the Council handles her information. However, Ms X can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if she is concerned about how the Council handles personal data or possible data breaches as this is the appropriate body to consider complaints about these matters.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely an investigation could add to the Council’s response or achieve a different outcome. The Ombudsman will also not investigate Ms X’s concerns about how the Council manages personal data as there is another body better placed to deal with complaints about this matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman