Summary: We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint that the Council has refused to uphold all parts of her complaint about the actions of social workers. This is because we cannot achieve anything significant by doing so.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Ms B, complains that the Council has refused to uphold all parts of her complaint about the actions of social workers.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered what Ms B has said in support of her complaint and the documents she has provided. I have offered Ms B the opportunity to comment on a draft of my decision.

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What I found

5. Ms B’s daughter was the subject of child protection action in 2017. The child was taken from Ms B’s care under a Police Protection Order and accommodated by the Council. Care proceedings took place in February and June 2017, after which Ms B’s daughter was returned to her care.
6. The evidence shows that Ms B made an initial complaint to the Council, which completed Stage 2 of the statutory complaints procedure in 2018. In 2019 Ms B raised further issues, which were considered in an addendum Stage 2 report. The Council made its final response in 2021.
7. Ms B complains about inaccuracies in the Council’s records and inaccurate information in reports and evidence given to the Court. She also complains that the Council did not accept the findings of the Stage 3 Review Panel, and declined to uphold parts of the complaint the Panel upheld.
8. Ms B wants the Council to accept the Review Panel’s findings, to add corrections to its records and financially compensate family members.
9. We will not investigate Ms B’s complaint because we cannot achieve what she wants. By law, the Ombudsman cannot consider what happens in a court. We cannot therefore consider the evidence the Council’s social worker gave to the Court. There is no discretion available to us here. The matters Ms B has raised are not separable from the issues considered in Court, and we cannot consider them.
10. The Council’s final response under the complaints procedure shows it has already accepted that its records contain inaccuracies. It has apologised for this and has indicated that it will add the complaint record to the file. It has also offered to include a further statement from Ms B. This is in line with what the Ombudsman would seek to achieve in the circumstances of the case, and our involvement would not achieve anything more. That being the case, investigation by the Ombudsman is not warranted.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot achieve anything significant by doing so.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman