Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council giving incorrect information to Mrs X. This is because there is insufficient evidence of injustice to warrant our intervention.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council has provided inaccurate information on 2 separate occasions. First, she became aware in August 2025 the Council failed to make a referral to her daughter’s social worker 10 months previously.
2. Second, she says the Council wrongly said it explained to her the financial implications of social care part-funding a placement for her daughter, which was not true.
3. Mrs X says this led to delay in resolving incorrect charges. She also says the complaint handling on these issues was inadequate.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Regarding the complaint in paragraph 1, Mrs X has subsequently made a complaint about this which is going through the Council’s complaint process. It is not proportionate to investigate this as a standalone point separate from the complaint Mrs X is making. There are too many variables to say subsequent matters would have been resolved sooner.
7. We cannot say the statement by the Council in paragraph 2 directly led to incorrect charges. There would be other factors in the Council’s decision-making process, so we would not be able to make a direct link to this specifically causing significant injustice to justify an investigation.
8. We will not investigate the complaint handling as 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

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of injustice caused by fault on the Council’s part to warrant investigation. Also, it is not a good use of resources to consider a complaint about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman