Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the way in which the Council managed safeguarding referrals made by the complainant. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Miss X, that the Council breached her confidentiality and approached her employer with untrue information about her. The information was treated as safeguarding concerns with respect to Miss X, and caused her to lose her job.

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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 would find fault, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information provided by Miss X and by the Council, and I have sent Miss X a draft decision for her comments.

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What I found

4. Miss X says that she raised several safeguarding concerns regarding her neighbour with the Council. She says that the Council’s Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) believed that she had obtained information about her neighbour inappropriately, and made a referral about her to her employer.
5. The Council says that the LADO had a responsibility to share the information about the safeguarding referrals made by Miss X with a Managing Allegations meeting. Miss X’s employer was also represented at the meeting.
6. The Council did not refer Miss X directly to her employer, but the meeting did raise the question of whether she had obtained information about her neighbour inappropriately. It had a duty to do so, and there is no fault in the Council’s actions in following up and examining Miss X’s safeguarding referrals.
7. Miss X says that this led to her losing her job, but it is for her employer to decide whether it wishes to terminate her employment. If she feels that her employer did so unfairly, or relied on incorrect information, she has recourse to employment protection law.
8. If Miss X further believes that the Council breached her confidentiality, she can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, as this is the body set up by parliament to

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Final decision

9. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because we are unlikely to find fault in the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman