Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the way the Council responded when a young person left the complainant’s care. This is because the matter has been considered in Court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr C, complains about the Council’s response to the decision that a young person should no longer live with his family.

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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))

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr C and his partner had care of three children who were siblings. The relationship the oldest sibling had with the rest of the family deteriorated over time. In 2020 Mr C and his partner decided that the young person’s behaviour, and the danger he posed to the other children, meant the placement would have to end. Mr C says that the Council pressurised him and his family to take the young person back and failed to intervene when he went to live in an unsuitable placement.
8. The Council took the issue of the young person’s care to Court. Mr C complains about the content of the assessment the Council carried out, which he says was inaccurate, and about the evidence the Council gave in Court, which he regards as amounting to perjury.
9. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr C’s complaint. The matters about which he complained were referenced in the evidence presented to the Court in the public law proceedings brought by the Council. By law, this places them outside our jurisdiction. This applies to the evidence and the way it was produced and presented. We can take no view on its accuracy or otherwise. There is no discretion available to us on this matter.

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Final decision

10. We cannot not investigate Mr C’s complaint because it concerns matters which have been considered in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman