The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about what the Council wrote about Mrs X and her husband, and its failure to tell them of a suicide threat by their son. Mrs X has a right to approach the Information Commissioner’s Office it would be reasonable to use about the processing of inaccurate data by the Council. The Council’s apology for not telling Mrs X of her son’s suicide threat is sufficient. Investigation by us of that would be unlikely to lead to a significantly different outcome.
The complaint
Mrs X said the Council wrote things about her and her husband that are not true. She said it also did not tell the couple when their son was nearly hit by a tram.
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 there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X and the Council disagree about whether statements about them in its records are true. This complaint is about processing inaccurate data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) would be better placed to consider it because, if it finds date is inaccurate, it can require the Council to correct it.
The Council accepts it failed to tell Mrs X and her husband about her son’s threat to walk in front of a tram and his consequent hospitalisation. It has apologised for this. Were we to investigate, it is unlikely we would recommend more.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because: There is another body better placed to consider the complaint of data inaccuracy; and Investigation by us of the Council not telling Mrs X and her husband of a suicide threat by their son would be unlikely to lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman