Summary: Mrs X complained about the Council’s involvement with her friend’s children. We cannot investigate this complaint, because we cannot investigate matters that have been considered in court.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained on behalf of her friend, Mrs Y. They complained the Council:
• placed the children with inappropriate foster carers instead of more appropriate people within their own community, who were not assessed at all;
• has not followed a court order properly, then applied to court to change it;
• has not provided Mrs Y with an interpreter; and
• has not considered Mrs Y’s concerns raised recently about one of her children.

Back to top

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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information Mrs X provided when she complained.
4. I considered information from the Council, which included complaints correspondence with both Mrs X and Mrs Y.
5. I gave Mrs X and Mrs Y the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

Back to top

What I found

6. Mrs X and Mrs Y have both complained to the Council about several issues. Care proceedings are ongoing in relation to Mrs Y’s children, who have lived with foster carers for two years. The complaints include that the social worker was taking too long to arrange the return of the children to Mrs Y’s care, and that the social worker then applied to the courts to vary the previous order.
7. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. It was the court, rather than the Council, that ultimately made decisions about the children’s care. It was correct for the court to be asked to make further decisions where the Council considered its previous order was no longer in line with the children’s best interests.
8. Mrs X and Mrs Y complained:
• the foster carers were not appropriate as they had a different first language and did not practice the same religion as the children;
• the Council did not consider alternative potential foster carers from their community, such as Mrs X;
• the Council did not provide an interpreter for Mrs Y to help her be involved in the process, due to her having very limited English; and
• the Council had more recently not properly considered a safeguarding concern Mrs Y raised about one of her children.
9. I have considered whether these parts of the complaint were separable from the court proceedings. However, from the information I have seen, all parts of this complaint have been raised in court. This means we have no discretion to consider any of the above issues. We would not have the power to intervene in matters that are for the courts.
10. Mrs X and Mrs Y are concerned the social worker is abusing their power, and acting with racist and discriminatory motives. They believe the social worker is trying to delay the children being returned to Mrs Y’s care, and they are making unjustified allegations against Mrs Y to influence the court. Mrs Y should continue to raise issues in court where she believes they will have a bearing on the court’s decisions about her children.

Back to top

Final decision

11. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because all parts of the complaint have been raised in court.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman