Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s response to her child protection safeguarding reports. There are now Court proceedings considering the child’s care.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, says the Council failed to take safeguarding action or consider Miss X’s referrals properly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X says that in June her child, D left her home. She found out that D had gone to stay with an Aunt in this Council’s area. She says she contacted the Police and the Council. The Council’s response to her suggested she did not have parental responsibility. Miss X believed the Council had not taken her reports seriously. She says the Aunt’s was not a safe place for D to live.
7. In August 2022 Miss X applied to Court for D’s return. Those proceedings continue. In December 2022 the Court made an Interim Care Order. The Council say the Court has ordered it to prepare a report on D’s situation.

Analysis

8. We cannot investigate D’s care since the Court proceedings began. We could investigate the period before the Court proceedings started. But it is not suitable to do so while the proceedings are continuing.
9. We cannot investigate the assessments the Council is preparing or produced which are used in the Court proceedings.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot investigate Council assessments used in Court proceedings nor D’s care during the court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman