Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with matters relating to the care of the complainants children. This is because the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains about judgements reached by the Council’s children’s services in relation to the care of her children. Miss X says due to the Council’s actions she only has supervised access to her children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X’s complaint makes it clear that there are ongoing court proceedings where the care of her children are being considered. The opinions of the social worker included in the Council’s assessments are matters that form part of these proceedings. This therefore places Miss X’s complaint outside of our jurisdiction and the judgements reached by the Council are not separable from the court proceedings.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the matters raised are subject to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman