The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to share information with her because she does not have parental responsibility for her grandchildren.
The complaint
The complainant, Miss X, complains the Council has failed to safeguard her grandchildren.
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
Miss X complained to the Council that it is failing to safeguard her grandchildren.
The Council told Miss X it had shared her concerns with the appropriate officers and that it would be dealt with via its procedures but that it could not share any information with her because she does not have parental responsibility for her grandchildren. It also explained that it could not share the outcome of any investigations with her.
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s response to her complaint and its decision not to share information with her because she does not have parental responsibility for her grandchildren. The same restriction would apply to complaints to this office. We could only consider a complaint about the substantive matter if we had the written consent of a person with parental responsibility for the children.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to share information with her because she does not have parental responsibility for her grandchildren.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman