The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker in removing Ms X’s teenage child from her home. There is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our further involvement.
The complaint
Ms X said a social worker: Removed her teenage child from the family home without her permission; Was discriminative and disrespectful; and Left the teenager in a hospital in the middle of the night.
She said the Council failed to deal properly with her complaint about this.
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 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 Council’s response to Ms X’s complaint stated the social worker who went to her home during the evening in question was an out-of-hours worker did so jointly with a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) worker from the NHS. It is not disputed that they removed the teenage child and took them to hospital. Out-of-hours social workers do not make routine visits, but respond to emergency referrals, and the presence of the CAMHS worker suggests the call-out was related to mental health. Social workers do not require parental permission to remove a child if they think the child is at immediate risk, even if the child is over 16. It is therefore more likely than not on the balance of probabilities that the decision to remove the teenager from the family home was a matter of professional judgement, not fault.
The only evidence of the social worker’s manner towards Ms X and the teenage child is that of Ms X and the CAMHS worker. The CAMHS worker’s account was provided by the Council and found nothing wrong in the way the social worker spoke to Ms X and the child. Even if we do not consider the CAMHS worker’s account independent because they were present for the same purpose as the social worker, there is no other independent reliable account available. Investigation by us would be unlikely to establish evidence of fault on the balance of probabilities.
Once the teenager was handed over to the care of an NHS hospital, I would not expect the social worker to remain at the hospital. That the teenager may have been sent home alone later in a taxi that night would be a matter for the NHS, not fault by the Council.
While Ms X is dissatisfied with the Council’s response to her complaint, I have seen evidence that it responded to it and correctly referred her to us at the end of its process.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to justify our further involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman