Summary: The Ombudsman cannot and will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about who should care for children in her extended family. A Court is currently considering this.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, says the Council should not have removed children, A and B, from her family’s care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word 'fault' to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Miss X provided with her complaint and the Council’s response to her which it provided. Miss X had an opportunity to comment a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

5. Miss X says that in January 2019 two of her sibling’s children, A and B, came to live with her and her mother. She says this happened because her sibling became unable to care for them. She understands her sibling agreed this with the Council. This type of agreement is a section 20 agreement.
6. In April 2019, Miss X says the Council removed A and B from their care. She understands the Court made an Interim Care Order. She says the Council told her this happened because the Council believed A and B were suffering emotional harm. Miss X says she has not been told the detail. The Council says it told her.
7. Miss X believes A and B’s parents are currently caring for them. She believes they are at risk of significant harm in their care. She says the social worker who removed A and B from them, acted unprofessionally.

Analysis

8. A Court granted an Interim Care Order. It is approving the children’s care arrangements. We cannot investigate this nor change where the children live.
9. Parliament set up the Health and Care Professions Council to consider professionalism complaints. They are the more appropriate body to consider if the social worker acted unprofessionally.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman will not and cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot change the children’s carers nor alter a Court order.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman