Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with safeguarding concerns that the complainant raised about his child. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council dealt with safeguarding concerns he raised about the care of his daughter. Mr X says the Council made its decisions that no further action was required without any regard for his daughter and they failed to ask him for any evidence he had to back up his claims.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word fault to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In March and April this year, Mr X contacted the Council to raise concerns about his ex-partner’s care of his daughter.
6. On both occasions the Council concluded that the threshold for social care involvement had not been met and informed Mr X. Records show that before making these decisions, the Council spoke to Mr X’s ex-partner, considered the history of the family, and obtained other relevant information such as input from Mr X’s daughter’s school.
7. Mr X complained about the Council’s decision and said that he had additional evidence to support the claims he made. The Council asked him to provide the information which it would consider but Mr X said it was now no longer relevant.
8. Although Mr X is unhappy with the Council’s decision, we will not investigate this complaint further. That is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council considered Mr X’s safeguarding referral to justify our involvement. The Council spoke with Mr X to gain an understanding of his concerns and made appropriate checks and satisfied itself that there were appropriate care arrangements in place. When Mr X made the Council aware he had additional evidence the Council asked him to provide it. We cannot question the merits of the Council’s decisions not to take further action in the absence of fault.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman