Suffolk County Council (25 013 213)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the outcome of the Council’s Local Authority Designated Officer safeguarding process. Some of the complaints are late and with the others, there is not enough evidence of fault or significant injustice to warrant an investigation.

Telford & Wrekin Council (25 015 037)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mr F’s complaint about contact with his child because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation, and nothing we could add to the Council’s response.

Reading Borough Council (25 016 876)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about an entry to her home as we cannot investigate the Police’s actions. We will not investigate her complaint about children services’ actions in relation to a child protection conference as we are unlikely to achieve more than the service improvements and apology the Council has already offered.

Cheshire East Council (25 017 509)

Statement Upheld Other 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about children services’ actions. We have upheld Mr X’s complaint as the Council has now agreed to follow the Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure which is a proportionate way to resolve the complaint.

Leicestershire County Council (25 018 286)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the conduct of a social worker and adoption assessment. This is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

London Borough of Sutton (25 018 427)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council responding to a child protection referral, or how it carried out its enquiries. There is not enough evidence of fault it started an investigation and the fault Mr X alleges in how it carried out that investigation, has not caused him a significant injustice.

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council (25 018 718)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the conduct of a social worker whom he said asked inappropriate questions and made unfounded allegations against him. The Council upheld the complaint and apologised. An investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to achieve anything else.

Northumberland County Council (25 019 803)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to complete a children’s statutory complaint investigation in 2019. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider it now. We will not investigate the Council’s refusal to investigate the same complaint in 2025 because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

Birmingham City Council (25 021 093)

Statement Upheld Child protection 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her complaint about its children’s services. The Council has accepted fault in the way it retained Miss X’s records and now agreed to remedy for avoidable uncertainty this creates. This provides a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

Darlington Borough Council (25 022 682)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council Social Worker or the removal of her grandchildren from her care. This is because the law does not allow us to investigate matters which are subject to court proceedings.