London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (25 012 897)
Category : Children's care services > Adoption
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 05 Dec 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about decisions made around her adoption when she was a baby, because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been subject to court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.
The complaint
- Mrs X complains about decisions made around her placement for adoption when she was a baby. She raises concerns about the legality and ethics of her adoption. This includes concerns around whether her mother had capacity to consent; the failure to trace her paternal relatives and the decision to make a transracial placement and the impact of this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mrs X complained to the Council, raising concerns about the legality and ethics of her adoption in the early 1980’s when she was a baby.
- The Council told Mrs X it was unable to consider her complaint via its complaints procedure. This is because decisions made around Mrs X’s adoption were considered and decided by the court. It explained it cannot consider complaints about matters considered in court proceedings or the information shared as part of the proceedings via its complaints procedure. It also noted that due to the significant passage of time it would not be able to effectively investigate these matters now.
- We cannot investigate this complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered and decided in court proceedings. The decisions around Mrs X’s adoption and placement as a baby were ultimately decided by the court and we cannot consider or question them. We have no discretion to do so.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider it.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman