Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the care of a child. This is because the complaint is made late, and I see no good reason why it could not have been made sooner. The courts are better placed to consider if there has been a breach of a care order.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council failed to provide him with adequate support when his child was returned to his care. He says his child’s mother has taken his child back into her care in breach of a court order and the Council has failed to help.

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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 late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X’s child was returned to his care in 2021, after court proceedings. Mr X says the Council failed to support him and subsequently the mother of his child illegally took the child to live with her. Mr X says he has not seen the child now for around 2 years.
8. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is made late. I see no good reason why Mr X could not have complained about the Council’s actions at the time of its involvement. Furthermore, any alleged breach of a care order would be better considered by the courts.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and the courts are better placed to consider an alleged breach of a care order.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman