The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a child protection decision by the Council as there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our further involvement.
The complaint
Mrs X said the Council failed to consider a child protection matter properly, and based its decision on a statement her child made when traumatised. She said her child now regrets what they said.
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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council received a safeguarding referral about a child of Mrs X, and it fell to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) to call a multi-agency meeting to consider what action to take.
The child had sustained injuries. Mrs X did not dispute there had been an incident at home. She said the child had attacked their father and that the child had been violent to family members due to trauma. The child’s account was that they had been assaulted by their father. Those present at the multi-agency meeting decided unanimously the child had suffered significant harm. That Mrs X disputed how the injuries came about does not mean investigation by us of the LADO’s actions would be likely to lead to a finding of fault in how they reached the decision. Nor does Mrs X’s claim that the child has since changed their account mean we would be likely to find fault with how the Council reached its decision.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because doing so would be unlikely to lead to a finding of fault about how the Council reached its decision.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman