Summary: We have discontinued the investigation. The Council is still considering part of Mr X’s complaint through the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The remaining matters concern court proceedings, or issues closely connected to those proceedings, which we cannot or have decided not to investigate. Further investigation would not achieve a worthwhile outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to properly consider his concerns about its plans for a child he and his wife were fostering and later sought to adopt. He says the Council’s actions led to court proceedings and significant legal costs. He also complains the Council delayed obtaining the child’s passport, which meant she could not travel on a planned family holiday, and that the Council did not properly investigate all of his concerns through the statutory children’s complaints procedure.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 1, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
5. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Mr X and the Council were offered an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What happened

8. The following is a summary of the key events relevant to my consideration of the complaint. It does not include everything that happened.
9. Mr X and his wife were foster carers for a child they later sought to adopt. In February 2026, they complained to the Council about several matters concerning its involvement with the child, including matters connected to court proceedings and the Council’s failure to obtain the child’s passport.
10. The Council responded at Stage 1 in March 2026. It upheld the complaint about the delay in obtaining the passport. It did not consider some of Mr X’s other concerns through the statutory complaints procedure, including matters it considered related to court proceedings.
11. Mr X asked the Council to escalate his complaint to Stage 2. The Council decided the Stage 2 investigation would consider the passport delay, communication about the passport, the impact on the child and family, and the adequacy of the Stage 1 response. Mr X agreed the Terms of Reference but remained dissatisfied with the narrowing of the complaint scope.
12. The Stage 2 investigation concluded in June 2026. The Council upheld the complaints within the agreed scope, apologised, proposed service improvements and offered Mr X £500 in recognition of the distress and disruption caused.
13. Mr X remained dissatisfied, including with the scope of the investigation and the financial remedy offered. He asked the Council to arrange a Stage 3 review panel. The Council is progressing that request.
14. Mr X has also asked us to investigate the complaint matters the Council excluded from Stage 2. These concern, among other things, the Council’s actions leading up to and during court proceedings relating to the child’s adoption, and the legal costs Mr X says he incurred as a result.

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Decision to discontinue

15. Mr X has asked the Council to arrange a Stage 3 review panel. That process is ongoing. The Stage 3 panel can consider the way the Council dealt with the complaints that formed part of the Stage 2 investigation, including the findings and remedy offered. I consider the Council should have the opportunity to complete the statutory complaints procedure before we consider those matters further.
16. Mr X says the Stage 3 panel will not consider the parts of his complaint which the Council excluded from the Stage 2 investigation. These include concerns about the Council’s actions leading up to and during court proceedings concerning the child’s adoption.
17. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. We may also decide not to investigate matters which could reasonably have been raised as part of closely related legal proceedings. Some of Mr X’s remaining concerns relate directly to the court proceedings, while others are so closely connected to those proceedings that I do not consider we could investigate them meaningfully without considering matters which were, or could have been, before the court.
18. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. We recognise this does not automatically prevent us considering every action a council took before proceedings began. However, in this case, some of Mr X’s remaining concerns relate directly to the court proceedings, while others are so closely connected to the Council’s decision-making and actions which led to those proceedings that I do not consider we could investigate them meaningfully without considering matters which were, or could have been, before the court.
19. Mr X says the Council’s actions caused him to incur around £57,000 in legal costs and he also seeks compensation for the emotional impact on him and his family. These claimed losses arise from matters connected to the court proceedings, which we cannot investigate or have decided not to investigate. Even so, we could not realistically achieve the outcome Mr X seeks. We cannot determine liability for substantial legal costs arising from court proceedings or award damages for emotional harm in the way a court can. I therefore do not consider further investigation would achieve a worthwhile outcome.
20. For the reasons described above, I have discontinued the investigation.

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Decision

21. I have discontinued my investigation. The Council is still considering part of Mr X’s complaint through the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The remaining matters either concern court proceedings, which we cannot investigate, or are so closely connected to those proceedings that I have decided not to investigate them. Further investigation would not achieve a worthwhile outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman