Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s insistence she wear a face covering to a contact session. There is insufficient injustice to Miss X.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, says the Council should not have insisted she wore Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) at her contact visit with her child.

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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 fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained, or
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. This complaint involves events that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government introduced a range of new and frequently updated rules and guidance during this time. We can consider whether the Council followed the relevant legislation, guidance and our published “Principles of Good Administrative Practice during COVID-19”.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X which included the Council’s replies to her.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. Miss X had an opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.

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My assessment

7. The Council looks after Miss X’s child. She has supervised contact three times a year. In September 2020, Miss X says the Council insisted she wear a face covering. She says she is exempt from doing so for medical reasons.
8. In reply to her complaint, the Council says it was following guidance and agreed protocols. It says it told Miss X she could move the face covering to the side if she felt anxious. It says the medical notes she provided did not specify she should not wear a face covering. It says the contact session went ahead.
9. Miss X was anxious and upset by this incident. The Council’s advice that she could move the face mask, and the contact going ahead and not being missed, means there is insufficient injustice caused to Miss X to justify our investigation.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is insufficient injustice caused directly to Miss X to justify our investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman