Summary: The Ombudsman cannot and will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s children services team’s actions before Court proceedings, during the proceedings and afterwards. We cannot obtain more contact for Miss X with her children.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, says the Council’s children services has been unfair towards her and her family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Miss X provided with her complaint, which includes the Council’s replies which it provided. I considered Miss X’s comments on a draft version.

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What I found

Background

6. Miss X says, in August 2018, the Courts granted a Special Guardianship Order for her children to be cared for by their paternal grandparents. Miss X says that:
1. Before the Court’s decision, and before the Court case started, the Council’s children services team failed to support her properly.
2. The Council failed to properly consider her family as alternative carers.
3. The Council provided the Court with inaccurate and unfair information about Miss X and her family, including an assessment.
4. The Court did not set out the contact she should have with her children.
7. The paternal grandparents have now stopped contact between Miss X and her children. She says the Council should make sure the contact happens.

Analysis

8. We cannot investigate the Court’s decision or any of the information, including assessments, the Council gave the Court which it replied upon to make its decision.
9. If Miss X believes the way the Council supported and dealt with her, and her family, before the Court hearing affected the Court’s decision, it is reasonable to expect her to have told the Court this.
10. We cannot investigate the contact Miss X now has with her children. Nor could we get her any more contact. The Council has no power to force the contact to happen.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not and cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate the Court’s decision and it is reasonable to expect Miss X to have told the Courts about the Council’s actions which could have affected its decision, including inaccurate assessments.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman