East Sussex County Council (21 004 972)

Category : Children's care services > Child protection

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 09 Jul 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint alleging ‘underhand’ actions by council staff. This is because the issues Miss X raises cannot be separated from the matters already decided in the family court.

The complaint

  1. Miss X says Council staff acted in a ‘underhand’ manner resulting in her children being removed from her and her family’s care. She says she is not complaining about decisions taken by the courts.
  2. Miss X says she would like an investigation of council staff actions.

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  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)

How I considered this complaint

  1. I have read all the complaint information sent in by Miss X including the Council’s response. I have also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

My assessment

  1. We cannot intervene in court proceedings or investigate reports prepared by council staff for the court.
  2. While Miss X says she is not complaining about the courts, in her complaint matters raised to us, council staff prepared reports for the family court. The court sanctioned the children being removed from Miss X and her family’s care.
  3. We cannot separately investigate council officer actions without considering their consequences. In this case, all the effect of the council’s actions are in the court proceedings, reports and evidence. So, Miss X’s potential remedy lies via her own action in the courts, and we cannot investigate.

Final decision

  1. I cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint matters are not separable from what happened in court.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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