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.

The complaint

1. Mrs Y complains the Council disclosed her name without first seeking her consent after she expressed concerns about the safety of her grandchildren. Mrs Y says the Council’s actions have negatively impacted relationships between family members.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. During my investigation I discussed the complaint with Mrs Y and considered any information she provided.
5. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response. I also consulted the relevant policies and procedures about social care referrals and information sharing.
6. Mrs Y and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
7. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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What I found

What should happen

8. Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to the council's children’s social care and should do so immediately if there is a concern that the child is suffering significant harm or is likely to do so. Referrals may come from the child, agencies involved with children such as health and schools, concerned family members, friends, neighbours or members of the public.
9. When the council accepts a referral, the social worker has the lead professional role. The social worker should clarify with the referrer, where possible, what the concerns are and how and why they have arisen.
10. The Council’s published ‘Safeguarding Children Partnerships Procedures Manual’ contains the following relevant principles about referrals.
• The worker receiving a referral will establish several important issues, such as to clarify the extent to which the non-professional referrer’s anonymity can be maintained.
• The information shared should be proportionate and a record should be kept of what has been shared, with whom and for what purpose.
• Where possible, share information with consent and, where possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to having their information shared. Be mindful that an individual might not expect information to be shared.
• Base any information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and wellbeing of the individual and others who may be affected by their actions.
• Ensure any information shared is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it and only share with those people who need to have it.
• Keep a record of the decision and reasons for it.
11. Statutory government guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ says that, “Feedback should be given by local authority children’s social care to the referrer on the decisions taken. Where appropriate, this feedback should include the reasons why a case may not meet the statutory threshold and offer suggestions for other sources of more suitable support”.

What happened

12. Mrs Y has concerns about the living conditions of her grandchildren. She contacted their housing authority to ask questions and raise concerns about the safety of the children in their home. The housing authority is a neighbouring council and not the one which we are investigating in this case.
13. The housing authority initially called Mrs Y to discuss her concerns but then took no further action. I understand this is because the officer dealing with the case left the employment of the council. Another officer picked up the case seven months after Mrs Y’s first contact and called Mrs Y again to check if she still had concerns. Mrs Y said she did.
14. Mrs Y says the officer did not tell her that they would be passing her concerns to any other agencies. Mrs Y says the purpose of her call was to relay concerns and seek support from the housing authority regarding possible tenancy issues. She was not informed that those concerns would be passed to social services. Had Mrs Y known, she would have made clear that her anonymity needed to be protected so not to damage her relationship with her grandchildren and their mother.
15. Upon picking up the case, the housing authority made a written referral to the Council using a Multi-Agency Referral Form (MARF). The form says, “Has the parent, carer or young person specified that this information cannot be shared with a particular person/agency?”. The response recorded is ‘no’.
16. Mrs Y is neither the parent, carer nor young person. The MARF is therefore silent on the issue of Mrs Y’s anonymity.
17. The Council attempted to speak with the father of the children on three occasions, but he did not answer or return the calls, despite voicemail messages.
18. The records show the Council decided it was necessary to visit the family home to assess the concerns raised by Mrs Y.
19. Sometime after that visit, Mrs Y received a distressed phone call from the mother of her grandchildren. This is because the Council told the mother where the concerns originated from. As a result, Mrs Y says family relationships broke down and she was unable to see her grandchildren.
20. The Council spoke with the housing authority after the visit. The notes of that conversation show a discussion around Mrs Y’s concerns. The referring officer also said they would, “… check the form to see if it asks about the anonymity of the caller”.
21. The Council decided to take no further action after completing the visit.
22. Mrs Y complained to the Council about its decision to disclose her name to the mother of her grandchildren. The Council did not respond to her complaint and instead directed Mrs Y to the housing authority.
23. Dissatisfied with the response, Mrs Y approached the Ombudsman.

Was there fault causing injustice in the Council’s actions

24. In my view there was fault in the Council’s actions causing significant and avoidable distress to Mrs Y. This is because:
• there is no evidence to show the worker who received the referral made efforts to establish the extent to which the anonymity of Mrs Y - the non-professional - could be maintained. The call to the referrer came after the Council had already disclosed Mrs Y’s identity;
• although the Council made efforts to contact the father of the children, it did not contact Mrs Y to discuss her concerns;
• the Council did not record its rationale for sharing Mrs Y’s details;
• the Council did not consider that Mrs Y might not expect for information to be shared; particularly because her first contact with the housing authority was to seek advice, rather than to raise a formal safeguarding alert;
• there is no evidence to show the Council considered the dynamics of the family, any domestic history and the safety and wellbeing Mrs Y and others; and
• the Council did not write to Mrs Y with the outcome of the referral which has caused ongoing uncertainty and anxiety.
25. In response to our enquiries the Council gave its view that the procedures around consent, confidentiality and information sharing did not apply in this case because the referral came from a professional. The Council says that professionals cannot make anonymous referrals.
26. The Council would be entitled to disclose the name of the professional person making the referral. However, in this case, the Council shared the name of Mrs Y. She was neither the referrer nor the professional. Mrs Y raised a concern, as an individual member of the public. The Council’s procedures say, “Individual members of the public who make a referral may prefer not to give their name or alternatively they may disclose their identity, but not wish for it to be revealed to the parents/carers of the child concerned”.
27. It was the neighbouring housing authority who decided to make the referral unbeknown to Mrs Y and seven months after she made first contact. It is my view that, in the absence of any exceptional circumstances, there were no grounds for the Council to share Mrs Y’s name with the mother of the children without first seeking Mrs Y’s consent. In doing so, the Council has contributed to the breakdown of family relationships and caused Mrs Y significant distress.
28. When initially responding to the complaint the Council failed to accept any accountability and said the neighbouring authority was at fault for not making clear in the MARF that Mrs Y wanted to remain anonymous. In my view, the procedures referred to in paragraph ten of this statement apply to the Council irrespective of any ambiguity caused by the contents of the MARF it received. Had the Council followed the relevant procedures the unnecessary disclosure of Mrs Y’s identity could have been avoided.
29. Although Mrs Y continues to have concerns about her grandchildren, she feels unable to speak with social services because of the failure to protect her identity. The Council’s actions indirectly undermined the integrity of child protection. If officers continue to misapply the procedures, there could be a wider impact if other members of the public feel unable to make disclosures about the safety of children in the Council’s area.
30. The Council should provide a personal remedy to Mrs Y. This will be a symbolic financial payment in recognition of her significant distress and the disruption to family relationships. The Council will also undertake service improvements to ensure that referrals are treated correctly and with confidence, where appropriate.

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Agreed action

31. Within four weeks of my final decision, the Council has agreed to take the following action.
• Apologise and pay £1000 to Mrs Y in recognition of the significant distress caused by the fault identified in this statement.
• Write to Mrs Y to confirm the outcome of the referral. The Council will ensure it shares only the level of information which it considers to be appropriate in this case.
32. In response to our enquiries, the Council said it has already improved processes after undertaking the following actions.
• Staff have been made aware that anonymous information can come from telephone referrals but via other sources, such as MARFs received from partner agencies.
• All incoming referrals are now triaged by a manager or senior practitioner to ensure robust quality assurance.
• The Council now ensures that processes are in place to ensure referrers receive outcomes.
• The Council will add additional information into its guidance for professionals on how to make referrals and to clearly state if third party information should be treated anonymously.
33. While the Ombudsman welcomes the service improvements listed above, we consider the Council should complete additional actions. The Council has agreed to complete the following within four months of our final decision.
• Provide a copy of the updated guidance for professionals about referrals.
• Provide a copy of the minutes of the meeting held on 3 April 2024 in which the Council shared learning about information sharing and anonymity. If the Council does not hold any minutes, it should place the item on the agenda for the next manager’s meeting and provide the respective minutes.
• Deliver a staff training session, or a comprehensive briefing paper, to all staff responsible for dealing with and acting upon referrals relating to child protection. The staff training/briefing paper should focus on the Council’s responsibilities around information sharing as outlined in the published procedures.
34. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

35. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault causing injustice for the reasons explained in this statement. The agreed actions listed in the section above will provide an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused by fault.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman