The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council taking safeguarding action in respect of the complainant’s son. This is because the Council’s safeguarding action has been subject to review and consideration by the courts. We have no legal jurisdiction to investigate in these circumstances.
The complaint
The complainant (Miss Y) complains about the way the Council carried out a legal safeguarding process concerning her son. This commenced when a medical professional made a referral to the Council concerning an injury he sustained. In summary, Miss Y says the process was not handled competently by the Council who failed to communicate appropriately with her. She also says there were two instances the Council breached confidentiality during the process.
As a result of the alleged fault, Miss Y says this has caused her to suffer from poor mental health. She also says the Council’s unwarranted involvement caused significant hardship for her son. As a desired outcome, she wants the Council to be held accountable for its failings and to provide compensation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended).
We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended).
We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council commenced its involvement with Miss Y’s due to concerns raised which required it by law to by follow statutory safeguarding procedures. The Council placed the matter before the court which accepted the threshold of significant harm was met for legal proceedings to be heard. Subsequently, a court appointed expert determined that the injuries could have been accidental, leading the Council to reach a decision to withdraw from the proceedings. The Council’s safeguarding action has been subject to review and consideration by the courts. We have no legal jurisdiction to investigate in these circumstances. I restriction I outline at paragraph 3 (above) applies.
The complaint also relates to alleged breaches of confidentiality and data protection legislation. We cannot make binding decisions as to data protection matters, nor enforce data rights. The appropriate body to consider and decide such matters is the ICO. I see no reason why Miss Y cannot reasonably refer her complaint to this body. For these reasons, we are not the appropriate body to consider this part of the complaint and so we will not consider it further. I restriction I outline at paragraph 4 (above) applies.
The legal restriction I outline at paragraph five (above) inserts a time limit for a member of the public to bring their complaint to the attention of the Ombudsman. Its intention is two-fold: to provide us with the best opportunity of arriving at a robust, evidence-based decision on complaints about recent events and to ensure fairness by enabling us to decline an investigation into historic matters, which could and should have formed the basis of a complaint to us far sooner. I recognise Miss Y’s complaint also concerns alleged poor communication from the Council before court proceedings were initiated. However, the alleged problems which Miss Y refers to occurred nearly two years ago. The complaint is therefore late and I see no good reason to exercise my discretion.
Final decision
We cannot investigate the central complaint concerning the Council’s safeguarding action as this was subject to legal proceedings. The other parts of the complaint are either late or could reasonably be referred to the ICO.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman