Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how his daughter was spoken to during a phone call. This is because we could not add to the Council’s investigation and there is insufficient evidence of fault with the Council’s decision to investigate the complaint under its corporate complaints procedure.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about how his daughter, Ms Y, was spoken to during a telephone call. Mr X says the Council should have considered the complaint under the statutory children’s complaints procedure as he raised safeguarding concerns.

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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:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Upon receiving Mr X’s complaint, the Council spoke to the person who spoke to Ms Y and people who were present at the time. The Council found no evidence to support Mr X’s complaint. A referral was made to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) regarding a safeguarding concern, who concluded that the threshold for its involvement had not been met.
7. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we could not add to the Council’s response. The call was not recorded, so with differing accounts it would not be possible to reach a robust decision as to exactly what was said. The Council says that, in future, calls will be recorded.
8. I will not investigate the LADO’s decision not to take any further action. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault and, in the absence of fault, we cannot question the merits of the decision made by the LADO.
9. Finally, I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to investigate his complaint under the statutory complaints procedure. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault because the issues raised are not ones that have to be considered under the statutory procedure.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault and investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman