Summary: The Ombudsman cannot and will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with the care of the complainant’s grandchildren. This because some matters have been considered in court and are out of our jurisdiction. And we could not achieve anything further by investigating the other issues raised.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mr X, complains on behalf of his daughter, who I shall call Mrs Y, about the Council’s actions during its involvement with the care of Mrs Y’s children. In particular, he says that:
• There was a lack of managerial oversight, bias in making decisions and failure to follow proper procedures.
• Undue pressure was put on Mrs Y and her husband to agree to a Section 20 placement.
• The Council had assessed the children’s aunt as being suitable to supervise the parents and children, and Mr X’s wife as being suitable to look after the children during any investigation. It then decided to separate the children and place them in foster care, rescinding its earlier decision.

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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 an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mr X provided about the complaint, including the Council’s response. I also sent him a copy of the draft decision for his comments.

What I found

5. In June 2018, the Council became involved with the care of Mrs Y and her husband’s two young children due to concerns raised about injuries to their baby. A medical report was obtained, the Council made decisions about the children’s care arrangements and carried out assessments. The children’s care was considered by the Court. It made child arrangement orders for the children to live with Mrs Y and have contact with their father. It made no order on the Council’s application for a six month supervision order to help Mrs Y manage contact.
6. Mr X complains about the Council’s procedures and the steps it took following the concerns about the baby’s injuries. We cannot investigate issues related to the matters considered by the court as these are outside our jurisdiction. The Court looked at the cause of the injuries. It made a finding that the threshold had been met for protective action to be taken and orders regarding future care and contact.
7. Mr X says issues about the Council’s decision, and the process of obtaining agreement, to place the children with foster carers under a Section 20 agreement were not considered by the court.
8. He has told us the Council did not follow the correct process when it asked Mrs Y and her husband to enter into a Section 20 agreement while enquiries continued. In its complaints response the Council said it explained the implications to Mrs Y and her husband and they signed the agreement. Had agreement to place the children in foster care not been given, the possibility of police protection would have been considered. There is nothing any further investigation by us could add to this.
9. Mr X also complains the Council placed the children into foster care unnecessarily. He says that the Council had previously decided that the children’s aunt was suitable to supervise them in the presence of their parents, and his wife had been assessed as being suitable to look after the children. There was no need then to separate the children from each other and their family by placing them in foster care.
10. The Council followed the Multi-agency Protocol for all professionals in Wiltshire in cases involving bruising and injuries to non-mobile babies. This says that where the medical examination raises concerns about how a bruise/injury has been caused, Children’s Social Care will consider the further investigations required including any emergency action required to safeguard the child or any other children.
11. The Council investigated Mr X’s complaint. In its response it set out the reasons for its decision, which took into account the current arrangements agreed for the supervision and care of the children and new information about an injury in the medical report, to place the children in foster care. This was the emergency action the Council decided to take to safeguard the children and there is nothing any further investigation by us could add to this.
12. I understand how strongly Mr X, Mrs Y and their family feel about the steps taken by the Council at the start of its involvement with the children’s care. And that they disagree with the findings of the Council’s investigation in response to the complaint. But we will not investigate for the reasons explained above.
13. The Council had some involvement with the case after the court hearing and Mrs Y and the children’s move from Wiltshire to County L.
14. Mr X has complained that the Council did not tell Council L, after the court hearing, that no care order was made by the court. Council L then made an unnecessary call on Mrs Y six weeks after the court decision, causing further distress. And an issue arose after the court hearing, regarding a family event planned at his home.
15. Although Mr X complains the Council didn’t ask Council L to assess his home which is in its area, there is no evidence to support this claim.

16. We will not investigate the issues relating to the Council’s involvement in the case after the court hearing and the move. I appreciate that Mrs Y and her family have been through a very difficult time. But the Council has already investigated and apologised where it has accepted fault. It is unlikely we could add anything to the Council’s investigation or achieve any further outcome.

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Final decision

17. I cannot and will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is about matters which have either been considered in court and are out of our jurisdiction, or where we could not achieve anything by further investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman