Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaints about a Council’s safeguarding enquiry and a court report about her stepchild, C’s, welfare because they concern matters that have been considered by the courts. We will also not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council failed to take her views into account during C’s Education, Health and Care Plan process. There is not enough evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains on behalf of Mr X, about the following matters:
1. errors made by the Council during the child protection process relating to Mr X’s child, C, including the safeguarding enquiry it carried out;
2. the welfare report (also called a section 7 report) written about C by a Council social worker; and
3. the failure of the Council to take Ms X’s views into account during the Education, Health and Care Plan process.
2. Ms X says that as a result, C was removed from their care and she and Mr X have experienced significant distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6))
5. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Mr and Ms X are C’s biological father and stepmother. After they removed C from school, C’s biological mother (Ms Y), removed her from Mr and Ms X’s house and successfully applied to court for a prohibited steps order to ensure C returned to school.
9. Almost immediately, the Council placed C on a child protection plan (CPP) and began safeguarding enquiries. Ms Y also restricted C’s contact with Mr and Ms X.
10. The matter of contact went before the court. As part of that process, the Council submitted a section 7 welfare report and a safeguarding report following its enquiries.
11. We will not investigate these complaints for the following reasons:
• Complaint a) – matters relating to placing C on a child protection plan and the safeguarding enquiry and report formed part of the two court cases. We cannot look at matters relating to what happened in court, including any reports submitted as part of that process;
• Complaint b) – section 7 welfare report. The Council has not had an opportunity to investigate and provide Mr and Ms X with a final response. Therefore, we will not investigate it. But even if Mr and Ms X had completed the complaints process we could not investigate. This is because the report forms part of what happened in court;
• Complaint c) – EHC Plan process – the Council explained that although comments could be collated from stepparents, the parents with legally defined parental responsibility were the ultimate decision-makers. There is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because most of the matters involve what happened in court. In relation to the other complaints, there is insufficient evidence of fault to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman