Summary: Mr and Mrs X complained about the Council’s actions concerning the care of their grandchild, G. The matters complained about are currently being considered by the courts. Therefore, the Ombudsman has discontinued this investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr and Mrs X complained about the Council’s actions regarding the care of their grandchild, G. G is in the Council’s care and placed at a residential school, but Mr and Mrs X are G’s guardians with parental responsibility.
2. Mr and Mrs X complain the Council has not kept them regularly updated about G’s progress, is wrongly restricting their contact with G and is not dealing with G’s frequent absences from school.
3. They are concerned the Council is not appropriately responding to their concerns about G’s wellbeing or taking account of their views about decisions for G’s school move later this year.
4. Mr and Mrs X say this has caused them distress and concern about G’s wellbeing.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I spoke to Mrs X and considered her views of the complaint.
7. I spoke to the Council and also received documents it has placed before the court in relation to the ongoing legal action.
8. Mr and Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision and I took these comments into consideration before making a final decision.

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What I found

9. Mr and Mrs X are the legal guardians for their grandchild, G. G attends a residential school.
10. Mr and Mrs X are unhappy about the level of contact the Council has said they can have with G and the updates the Council has provided to them. They are also unhappy because they believe the Council has said it wishes to move G to a different school.
11. There is a court case currently open to decide matters relating to contact, updates and G’s placement.
12. The law says we cannot investigation a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. Because the court will decide the issues Mr and Mrs X complain about, the Ombudsman does not have the jurisdiction to investigate them. Therefore, I have discontinued my investigation.

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Final decision

13. The court is considering the matters Mr and Mrs X complained to us about. Therefore, the Ombudsman does not have the jurisdiction to consider them. As a result, I have discontinued my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman