Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about children services’ actions because we cannot investigate issues involved in court proceedings and there are other bodies better placed.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about children social services’ actions and one officer’s actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
3. We investigate 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 another body better placed to consider this complaint. (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 Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council in August 2023 about six things:
1. Mr X says a Council social worker made incorrect allegations about him to his employer. He says the social worker refused to agree to him sharing with his employer a recording of a telephone conversation. The Council has confirmed the officer refused consent.

Our role is to investigate the actions of the Council as a corporate body, not to hold a single officer accountable. If Mr X has concerns about the professionalism or integrity of an individual social worker, it is reasonable to expect him to report his concerns to their professional body, Social Work England.

2. Mr X says the Council refused to provide information to him about whether the Council has a child protection plan for his children.

The Information Commissioner’s Office is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights. It promotes openness by public bodies and protects the privacy of individuals. It deals with complaints about public authorities’ failures to comply with data protection legislation. This includes failing to disclose information which a person is entitled to.

There is no charge for making a complaint to the ICO, and its complaints procedure is relatively easy to use. Where someone has a complaint about data protection, the Ombudsman usually expects them to bring the matter to the attention of the ICO. This is because the ICO is in a better position than the Ombudsman to consider such complaints. I consider that to be the case here and Mr X should therefore approach the ICO about his concerns.

3. Mr X says the Council delayed in returning calls when he requested. Mr X says he did get a reply. It is unlikely we could achieve a significant remedy for this complaint.
4. Mr X says there were inaccuracies in a letter the Council provided to a Court. I understand this is a Children Act section seven report, which a Court orders. We cannot investigate the content or preparation of reports which a Court has ordered be completed.
5. Mr X says the Council disclosed details of his partner without their consent in an assessment report. The Council say his partner would need to complain about this. We would be unlikely to find fault in this response. In addition, disclosing details without consent is another potential data protection issue which the ICO is better placed to consider.
6. Mr X says the Council delayed in providing the Court with a letter. I understand this is also the section seven report. We cannot investigate the preparation and provision of Court ordered reports.
3. Mr X also says the Council used the wrong complaint procedure. He says the Council should have used the Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council not using this procedure. Section seven reports do not fall within that procedure. And the rest of his complaint is not about the effect on children.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot investigate court matters and we should not investigate matters which are better suited to SWE and the ICO.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman