The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint about its children’s service. That is because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement.
The complaint
Mr X complained the Council failed to acknowledge he was a victim of domestic abuse when it worked with his family. He said a social worker included fabricated information about him in the Council’s assessment. He said the Council refused to investigate his complaints.
Mr X said he has experienced homelessness and trauma from the Council’s actions and wants an independent body to investigate.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended) 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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
Mr X complained to the Council in October 2022. He said a social worker had fabricated information about him when they completed an assessment in 2020. He also complained he had told social workers working with the family he was the victim of domestic abuse, but they failed to respond to this.
The Council considered his complaint about the fabrication of information as a staff conduct matter. It said it was satisfied the information recorded was an accurate representation of events. Following further communication from Mr X, it said it would not investigate his complaints about the content of the assessment, or social worker intervention further. It said it closed his case in April 2021 and the events he complained of occurred more than twelve months ago.
Although Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s response to his complaint, we will not investigate. The Council has said it considers Mr X’s complaint is late; it is entitled to make that decision. Although Mr X states the social workers did not tell him to complain correctly, he has provided evidence to the Ombudsman he complained to the Council in April 2021. Therefore, there is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council considered Mr X’s complaint to justify the Ombudsman investigating.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman