Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms J’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with her family, because it would have been reasonable of her to raise this in court during proceedings about where her child should live.

The complaint

1. Ms J complains the Council told her child, C’s, school that only C’s father could collect C from school, as a result of which C is now living with the father.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 it is unlikely we would find fault, or 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

3. I have considered the information Ms J provided with her complaint and her response to the Ombudsman’s draft decision.

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What I found

4. The police removed Ms J’s child from her care and placed her child, C, with its father. The Council knew about this,and told C’s school that at the end of the next school day, C should not go home with Ms J. C’s father has since been to court and obtained an order so C lives with him permanently.
5. Ms J says the Council had no intention of working with her to help her keep C, and the impact of the court order on her mental health has been catastrophic. She holds the Council responsible for his.
6. Given the police involvement in this case, it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council for the advice it gave C’s school. We also could not make a direct link from this to the injustice Ms J claims, that C no longer lives with her.
7. And it was not the Council’s decision where C should live in the long term. The court made this decision. So it would have been reasonable for Ms J to raise in court her complaint about the Council’s involvement with her family. This was relevant to the court’s decision about who should be C’s primary carer. It is not something we should investigate.
8. Ms J argues that her complaint relates to the Council’s actions in the period before the court case. However, the effect of the alleged fault on the Council’s part relates precisely to the matters the court considered. That being the case, they are not for the Ombudsman to investigate.

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it would have been reasonable for Ms J to raise her concerns in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman