Surrey County Council (20 008 555)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Jan 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs B’s complaint that the Council was at fault in removing her children from her care and placing them for adoption. This is because the complaint concerns decisions made by the Court.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs B, complains that the Council was at fault in removing her children from her care.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mrs B has said in support of her complaint and relevant correspondence provided by the Council. I have offered Mrs B the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.
What I found
- Mrs B complains that the Council placed her children in care after the police illegally removed them from her. She wants the Council to return her children to her. Information provided by the Council shows the children are now subject to Full Care Orders and Placement Orders.
- We cannot investigate Mrs B’s complaint. The decision to place her children in the Council’s care, or for adoption, was for the Court to make. It is not the Council’s decision. The law says the Ombudsman cannot consider what happens in court. The decision to place the children in care therefore falls outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction, and we cannot consider the Council’s role. We cannot achieve what Mrs B wants.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns decisions made by the Court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman