Summary: We cannot investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council was at fault in removing her children from her care. This is because the complaint concerns decisions made by the court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss B, says the Council was at fault in removing her children from her care.

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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))
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)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered what Miss B has said in support of her complaint. I have offered her the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

7. Miss B says she approached the Council for support. She complains that, rather than providing her with support, the Council’s social worker unreasonably removed her children from her care. She wants the Council to return her children to her.
8. We cannot investigate Miss B’s complaint. The decision to place Miss B’s children in the Council’s care is for the court, not the Council, to make. 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.
9. If Miss B wants her children returned to her care, her recourse is to go back to court. The Ombudsman cannot achieve what she wants. There are therefore no grounds for us to investigate Miss B’s complaint.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns decisions made by the court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman