Summary: We will not investigate most of Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s early help services because an investigation is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome. We will not investigate some of the complaint because the Information Commissioner’s Office is better suited.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s early help service including:
1. the way the Council explained its early help support offer and the way it sought her consent to access her and her children’s information; and
2. how the Council conducted a Child and Family Assessment (CAFA).
2. Miss X said the matter caused her distress, frustration, and uncertainty.
3. Miss X wants the Council to improve its services and apologise.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
5. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection and data processing. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

Early help, consent, and inaccurate name

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s early help services.
9. In its complaint response, the Council accepted it could have explained how it provides support via its early help team more clearly, including how it obtained consent for early help input. The Council:
1. apologised for any uncertainty caused;
2. apologised for recording one of her children’s names incorrectly on a form;
3. said it was changing its consent forms to better explain its early help processes and services.
10. Consequently, an investigation into these complaints is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome, and so we will not investigate.

Child and family assessment

11. Miss X complained about the process of the Child and Family Assessment. Miss X was unhappy with the way the lead worker spoke with her and asked questions about sensitive topics from her past. Miss X was unhappy with the way the Council spoke with her children when the lead worker visited them at school and her view that adaptations should have been made for her child who has Special Educational Needs. Miss X withdrew her consent before the CAFA was finished.
12. The process of completing a CAFA includes obtaining a holistic overview of a family’s circumstances. This is the process by which the Council identifies need and determines the best way to support families. Some people can find assessments distressing; particularly because it can include discussions about sensitive, private matters.
13. The Council’s complaint response indicates Miss X verbally agreed for her children to be seen and spoken to in school. The Council said it would consider the question of making adjustments for children with SEN more proactively when arranging school visits in the future.
14. Although Miss X was unhappy with the process and the way the lead worker interacted with her children, the Council said it would consider changing the way it considers adjustments for SEN children in the future. Any remaining injustice is not significant enough to warrant an investigation, and an investigation into this matter is unlikely to achieve any meaningful outcome, and so we will not investigate.
15. In its complaint response the Council apologised to Miss X and explained how it would improve its communication about the CAFA process in the future. Consequently, an investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve any meaningful outcome, and so we will not investigate.

Data processing

16. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council accessed her personal information. Parliament created the Information Commissioner’s Office to consider complaints about data processing. I have seen no good reasons for the Ombudsman to consider this issue in place of the ICO, and therefore we will not investigate.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate most of Miss X’s complaint because an investigation is unlikely to achieve any additional outcome. We will not investigate some of the complaint because the ICO is better suited.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman