Summary: We have discontinued our investigation into Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s children’s social care service. Most of the complaint is out of time. And the rest is about professional misconduct, which is a matter for the professional regulator, not the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, complains that:
1. In early 2022, the Council provided information to a child protection conference which said she had been sectioned. This was inaccurate and was actually about someone else. The Council admitted it was wrong and said it would address the inaccuracy at the next conference, but never did.
2. The Council demonstrated bias against her. This included:
1. Not being kept up to date about the case (which she complained to the Council about in June 2023).
2. Not being provided with documents in advance of a child protection conference in May 2023.
3. There have been various issues with social worker conduct from 2022 to 2024.
4. The Council has ignored her complaints.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
3. The Ombudsman cannot investigate whether social workers are meeting their professional standards of conduct. Complaints of this nature should be referred to the social workers’ professional body, Social Work England.
4. We provide a free service, but we must use public money carefully. It is our decision whether to start – and when to end – an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34(B), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information from Mrs X and the Council. Both had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

6. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman in July 2024. This means her first two complaints (complaints A and B, as set out at the start of this decision statement) are late.
7. These are matters which Mrs X was aware of – and brought to the Council’s attention – at the time. And the Council told her she could approach the Ombudsman in December 2023. But she waited seven months to do so, and has provided no explanation why she could not have brought these complaints to us earlier.
8. This means there are no good reasons to disregard our 12-month time limit, and therefore I cannot investigate these complaints.
9. Part – albeit certainly not all – of Mrs X’s complaint about social worker conduct (complaint C) is about events which happened within the 12-month period preceding her Ombudsman complaint. This means the complaint is not entirely late.
10. However, I have identified nothing in this complaint which could be classified as potential maladministration. It is, instead, a series of allegations of professional misconduct. This means it is a matter for the professional regulator (Social Work England), not the Ombudsman, and I cannot investigate it.
11. Mrs X’s final complaint (complaint D) is about how the Council handled her various complaints. But we do not generally consider it a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint-handling if we are unable to deal with the substantive issues themselves.
12. As the substantive issues Mrs X complains about are either out of time or out of our jurisdiction, I will not consider her complaint further.

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Final decision

13. I have discontinued my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman