The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint because she does not have parental responsibility for her grandchildren.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains the Council has not taken the necessary steps to safeguard her grandchildren. She says the childrens’ mother is currently too mentally unwell to keep the children safe and meet their needs.
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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complained to the Council that it had failed to properly safeguard her grandchildren over the past 12 months. The Council has been involved with the family since 2017. The children were recently returned to their mother’s care.
The Council told Ms X it was unable to consider her complaint via its complaints procedure because she does not have parental responsibility for her grandchildren. It said it was visiting the children regularly in order to ensure the children were safe and it had undertaken risk assessments and sought legal advice before returning the children to their mother’s care.
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint because she does not have parental responsibility for the children. This decision is in line with the relevant statutory guidance on the handling of childrens services complaints. The same restriction also applies to this office considering the substantive matter. We would only be able to consider it with the consent of a person with parental responsibility.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault by the Council in its decision not to consider her complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman