The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about what a social worker allegedly said to another person concerning Ms X. Investigation is unlikely to lead to a worthwhile outcome.
The complaint
Ms X said a person told her a social worker had said something to him that in effect blamed Ms X for the death of her child. She wanted the Council to ask the Council to ask the social worker if she said it. She said the comment had now been broadcast and the effect had been devastating.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The matter complained of concerns what might have been said by a social worker and what that might have implied. Asking the social worker what words she might have said several years ago is unlikely to be fruitful. It would not be in the social worker’s interest to confirm she said something that might be used against her, even if she could remember the precise words she said about a matter that occurred several years ago.
Where there is an impartial witness, it is sometimes possible to reach a view. That is more likely if the person has no connection with either party. But the Council told me that the person Ms X named as having spoken to her was her ex-partner and that the relationship has been acrimonious. That would make it yet more difficult to establish what if anything was said.
For both these reasons, it is unlikely that we could establish, even on the balance of probabilities, whether the social worker said the words Ms X says she was told were said.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms’s complaint because doing so would be unlikely to lead to a worthwhile outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman