Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the conduct of the Council’s social workers and information they provided in court. The law prevents us from investigating matters that have been subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained on behalf of her daughter, Miss Y, about the conduct of the Council’s social workers. She said information the social workers provided to the court was false and the judge did not have the right information to make an Adoption Order. She said her family have suffered since the final hearing. She wants the social workers to be held accountable.

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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 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the conduct of social workers throughout court proceedings or the Court’s decision to issue an Adoption Order. The law prevents us from investigating matters that have been subject to court proceedings, and we cannot investigate a decision made by the Court. If Miss X had concerns about the social workers conduct, or the information they presented to the Court, it would be reasonable for Mrs X to have raised these issues as part of the legal proceedings.

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Final decision

8. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating matters that have been subject to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman