Torbay Council (19 017 321)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 28 Mar 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council was at fault in failing to give her an appropriate level of support and in placing her child in care. This is because the complaint relates to matters which have been decided in court.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss B, complains that the Council was at fault in failing to give her an appropriate level of support and in placing her child into care.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Miss B has said in support of her complaint.
What I found
- Miss B’s child is in the Council’s care. Miss B says it was not necessary to remove her child from her, and the Council failed to give her an appropriate level of support to help her to keep the child. She also complains that the Council has failed to respond to her questions and complaints. She wants her child returned to her care.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint. This is because the decision to remove her child was made by the court, not the Council. By law, the Ombudsman cannot investigate decisions of the court. I understand that Miss B was legally represented during the proceedings. If she felt the Council had acted unreasonably, it was open to her representative to raise this in court.
- It is also the case that investigation by the Ombudsman cannot achieve what Miss B wants. The Ombudsman cannot comment on whether Miss B’s child should be returned to her. Only the court can make this decision.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it relates to matters which have been decided in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman