South Gloucestershire Council (21 003 273)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Aug 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: I will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s lack of support for the complainant during the past 10 years and its refusal to investigate the matter. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council to warrant investigation.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to here as Mrs J, says that the Council:
- Has not provided adequate services to her and her family over the past 11 years; and
- Has refused to investigate her complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Mrs J.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
- Mrs J has had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
My assessment
- The Council has refused to investigate Mrs J’s complaint about the alleged lack of support and provision for her and her family over the past 11 years. The reasons it has given are that it does not investigate complaints from more than 12 months earlier, and that Mrs J has not provided any specific incidents or allegations from within the previous 12 months, but has complained in general terms.
- There is no fault in the Council’s response, as it is factually correct.
Final decision
- I will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s response to Mrs J’s complaint, and insufficient evidence of fault in its provision of support for Mrs J’s family in the past 12 months to warrant investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman