South Gloucestershire Council (24 009 812)

Category : Children's care services > Other

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 18 Nov 2024

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker in making Ms X’s child subject to a child protection plan. There is not enough evidence of fault in the way the decision was reached to warrant investigation by us.

The complaint

  1. Ms X said a social worker told her he had created a loophole in the Council’s system by not shutting down a previous case involving her family to allow him to create a new child protection plan. He said the social worker intimidated her and failed to recognise that the child’s issues were related to special educational needs (SEN).

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. The complaint correspondence supplied by the Council showed the reason given by the initial child protection conference (ICPC) for its decision that the child needed to be subject to a child protection plan. The second stage investigation report quoted the Council’s social care records extensively. These stated Ms X had a history of poor mental health and suicidal ideation. The records stated the child had been spoken to and had found an incident involving Ms X and Ms X’s partner scary. The records quoted the police report, which stated the child had had to call the police at the partner’s request. The ICPC was also worried that Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) were intending to close the child’s case due to what was said to be the unstable situation at home. The records stated there were persistent concerns about the child not eating properly. The records stated the child protection plan was agreed on the ground of risk of emotional harm, stating that neither Ms X nor her partner was able to prioritise the child’s needs.
  2. The evidence I have seen is directly quoted from records. The decision to make the child subject to a new child protection plan is one the Council was entitled to take based on that evidence. This is because it lay within the range of options open to it. It is not relevant whether the family’s records were kept open or not in the intervening period since the Council’s previous involvement. Nor is whether Ms X felt intimidated by the social worker. The matters referred to the Council would have allowed it to take the same course of action regardless. While Ms X says the real issue was the child’s SEN, it is unlikely the Council would have reached a different view if the child had had an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan. This is because what is stated in the records and quoted in the investigation report would have been sufficient on its own for the Council to reach the decision it did, regardless of the child’s potential SEN.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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