Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council took a photograph of the complainant’s child without permission. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice, and it is unlikely as investigation would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council took a photograph of his child without his permission. He says this has caused him a lot of trouble. He wants the Council to admit to wrong doing and to admit it acted illegally.

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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 an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• the injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• 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 read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I considered comments Mr X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

4. A social worker met Mr X’s child in school. The social worker wanted to take a photograph of some work the child had completed. While the social worker was taking the photograph the child placed herself in the shot which meant the social worker took a photo of the work and the child.
5. The social worker called Mr X and left a message to say the session had gone well. She explained about the photo and that she would delete it if Mr X wished. Mr X spoke to the social worker and accused her of deliberately taking the photo to use as evidence against him. The Council says Mr X expressed a wish for the social worker to be fired. The social worker explained she had no intention of using the photo against Mr X and she assured him she would delete it. Mr X says the social worker has lied about what happened. He denies trying to get her sacked and denies he was aggressive, as the Council has alleged.
6. In response to his complaint the Council explained there are no photos of the child in the file. It explained why the photo was taken and said that if there had been any intention to use the photo for any inappropriate reason then it is unlikely the social worker would have told Mr X what had happened.
7. Mr X says the Council delayed responding to his complaint and refused to escalate his complaint to stage two, despite inviting him to do so.

Assessment

8. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice. The social worker inadvertently took a photograph of the child and immediately told Mr X what had happened and offered to delete it. She deleted it and assured him she had no intention of misusing the photo. The Council has confirmed the photograph has been deleted and there are no photographs of the child in the file.
9. Mr X feels strongly about what happened, and refutes the Council’s explanation, but there is no evidence that the taking, and deletion, of the photograph has had any negative consequences that are due to fault by the Council. Mr X says the incident caused difficulties within his family but it is unlikely that any investigation would find that these difficulties are the responsibility of the Council. And, given that the photograph has been deleted, it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome.
10. Mr X is unhappy with the way the Council handled his complaint. He says there was delay, which the Council wrongly blamed on COVID-19, and the Council misled him by wrongly inviting him to escalate his complaint. I appreciate these issues were frustrating for Mr X but we do not investigate complaint handling when we are not investigating any other issue.

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Final decision

11. I will not start an investigation because there is insufficient evidence of fault and injustice and because it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman