Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s decision to begin care proceedings, which she believes was unnecessary. This led to her children being in foster care for nine months. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate the start of court action, and the courts ultimately decided what was in Mrs X’s children’s best interests.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council took her children into care, which she believes was unnecessary. Her children were returned to her care after nine months.

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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. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mrs X provided when she complained.
5. I considered information the Council provided, which included complaints correspondence.
6. I gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on a draft version of my decision.

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What I found

7. The Council decided in 2018 to apply to the courts to take Mrs X’s children into care, due to concerns about the children’s welfare. In August 2018, the court ordered that Mrs X’s children should be cared for by foster carers in the interim, until it made a final decision. Nine months later, the children returned to Mrs X’s care.
8. Mrs X believes the Council’s application to court was unnecessary. We cannot investigate complaints about the start of court action, so we cannot investigate this. We do not have the power to change decisions made by the courts, and we cannot make decisions about where a child should live in the same way the courts can.
9. It would have been reasonable for Mrs X to raise her concerns in court, at the time it was making a decision. We cannot consider this complaint.

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Final decision

10. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it is about the Council’s decision to begin court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman