Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s failure to respond to a complaint about the events leading to a child being taken into its care. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council responded.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs X, complains that the Council has declined to respond to her complaint about the events leading to her son being taken into its care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 may decide not to start an investigation if 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

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X says her son was placed in the Council’s care in 2004. She says it was not clear to her at the time why the Council asked the Court to take this action. Mrs X contacted the Council in 2022 to seek information about the reasons for the Council’s actions. She complains that the Council has declined to accept the matter as a complaint.
6. In response, the Council told Mrs X it will not treat the matter as a formal complaint given the passage of time. It says it has asked her for her son’s consent to share the content of its files with her, but this has not yet been provided. In response to the Ombudsman, it has confirmed that it is prepared to work with Mrs X outside the complaints procedure to help her gain the clarity she wants.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. We could not consider matters relating to the events of 2004 because the decisions on Mrs X’s son’s care were made in court. This places them, and matters relating to them, outside our jurisdiction.
8. There is no evidence of fault in the way the Council has responded to Mrs X’s recent request for information, and I note its willingness to continue to engage with her on the matter. It is for her to decide whether to do so, but there are no grounds for the Ombudsman to intervene.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault on the Council’s part.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman