The Social Welfare Committee in Boxholm Municipality is severely criticised for extensive deficiencies in the processing of two child welfare investigations

Summary of the decision: The Parliamentary Ombudsman notes that there have been significant deficiencies in the processing of two child welfare investigations conducted during 2022 and 2023. The investigations were not conducted promptly and were not completed by the reporting deadline. The total length of the investigations was almost 11 months, which the Parliamentary Ombudsman considers completely unacceptable. Nor did the committee immediately inform the parents/guardians that the investigations had commenced. It also appears that the committee gave no consideration whatsoever to whether it was appropriate to interview the child at school. The committee also failed to fulfil its obligation to notify the affected party so that they could offer an opinion before the decision was made. Moreover, the investigations were so poorly documented that the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s review was made significantly more difficult. Overall, the committee is severely criticised for these deficiencies.