Summary: We will not investigate X’s complaint that a social worker has failed to respond to his emails. This is because any injustice to X is not significant enough to justify our further involvement.

The complaint

1. X complains that a social worker failed to respond to emails he sent and that the Council failed to respond to his complaints about these matters.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I will not investigate X’s complaint about poor communication by the Council. Any injustice to X is not significant enough to warrant investigation by the Ombudsman.
6. I will not investigate X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with their complaints about this matter. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint because the issues raised have not caused X a significant enough injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman