Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Miss C’s complaint that the Council’s social workers have been at fault in their involvement with her children. This is because we cannot investigate matters relating to court reports and cannot achieve the outcome Miss C wants.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss C, complains that the Council’s social workers have been at fault in their involvement with her children.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. The courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))

We cannot investigate a complaint where the body complained about is not responsible for the issue being raised. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(1), as amended)

5. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered what Miss C has said in support of her complaint and the Council’s complaint response.

Back to top

What I found

7. Miss C has three children. Two are in the Council’s care. In 2019 she applied to the court for unsupervised contact with them. She complains about the way officers engaged with her while producing a Section 7 report requested by the court. She wants the report to be amended. By law the Ombudsman cannot investigate this matter. Section 7 reports are the property of the court and the Ombudsman cannot consider any matters relating to their production or content.
8. Miss C’s youngest child is in her care and was subject to a child protection plan. Miss C complains that, because of fault on the Council’s part, she unnecessarily remained subject to the plan longer than necessary. Whether a child remains on a plan is a decision for the multi-agency child protection conference, not the Council. The Ombudsman cannot question the conference’s decision.
9. Miss C wants the Council to replace the social workers responsible for her children. The Ombudsman cannot achieve this for her. It is for the Council to decide which responsibilities it gives to its staff and the Ombudsman cannot intervene. We cannot therefore achieve the outcome Miss C wants.

Back to top

Final decision

10. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot consider matters relating to court reports and cannot achieve the outcome Miss C is seeking.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman