Summary: Mr L complains the Council failed to consider both him and his partner, Ms L’s, rights to a family life immediately before and following the birth of their child. The matters complained of took place too long ago so the investigation has been discontinued.

The complaint

1. Mr L complains the Council failed to treat him and his partner appropriately before and after their child was born.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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 discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
5. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as assessment centres or Children’s Guardians, who would be from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Services (CAFCASS) (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
6. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
7. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered the information submitted by Mr L with his complaint and spoke to him on the telephone. He also sent me additional information that I considered. I sent Mr L and the Council a copy of my draft decision and took their comments into account before issuing this decision.

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What I found

What happened

9. When Ms L was pregnant in 2016 the Council had concerns about how the baby would be cared for and felt it could be at risk of significant harm. Mr L says that through Ms L’s pregnancy they ‘asked for help (but) none was given’. I understand from Mr L that, on their own initiative, they attended a course in order to demonstrate insight into the causes of, and reasons behind, domestic violence, which was a particular concern. However, they also wanted couples counselling because of health issues being experienced by Ms L
10. On the Friday, prior to the baby’s birth, a social worker told him the child would not be going into care and then, on the following Monday, that it would be.
11. After the baby was born, it was placed in care. The court then agreed to an assessment centre placement where Mr L and Ms L’s care of the baby could be closely monitored. Once this placement broke down, although the Council wanted to seek adoption, the court allowed a further assessment in a mother and baby foster placement conducted by an independent social worker.
12. Mr L says the Council placed Ms L and the baby a long way away from where they lived before the birth (approximately 80 miles away) even though they were presenting as a family.
13. The family were eventually reunited and returned home under a supervision order, which expired in 2017.

Complaints

14. Mr L made complaints to the Council. His complaints were not about the supervision order but on what had happened before this was agreed. The Council did not answer them because matters had moved on and it was taking child protection action. The Council had discretion whether to consider the complaints or not because of the time that had elapsed since the matters complained of.
15. A number of these complaints were brought up in court or could have been brought up in court (such as contact issues when the baby was in foster care or concerns that the Council was overstating the risk to the baby). Further, some of Mr L’s complaints concern bodies that are not in our jurisdiction such as the Children’s Guardian who would be from the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (CAFCASS) and staff from the Assessment Centre, which is not a Council body.
16. Mr L came to us in February 2019; over a year and a half from when the supervision order ended and approximately two and a half years from the date of the matters complained of.
17. We expect people to come to us within a year of them being aware of the matter they wish to complain about. It would have been understandable if Mr L had complained to us within a couple of months after the supervision order ended. Mr L says he was advised by a solicitor while in court to make a complaint to us although he was not aware we generally operate a time bar. Although I understand this must have been an extraordinarily difficult time for Mr L and Ms L, I see no grounds to exercise discretion to consider these complaints now.

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Final decision

18. I have discontinued my investigation and closed the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman