Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the circumstances in which the Council took the complainant’s children into its care. This is because the complaint concerns matters which were considered in court, or are closely related to those matters.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss X, complains that the Council took her children into its care on the basis of false information.

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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. 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 have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Miss X’s children were placed in the Council’s care in 2021. She says the Council‘s social workers took the children without informing her, and that they knowingly provided false information to the Court in order to obtain care orders.
7. Miss X says her children’s welfare suffered as a result of their time in the Council’s care. She says they and she have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She wants the Council to accept that its social workers were at fault.
8. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because it concerns the circumstances under which the Council gained care of the children. This decision was made by the Court and, as such, cannot be the subject of investigation by the Ombudsman.
9. The law prevents us from considering the decision to grant care orders, and how that decision was made. This restriction applies to the evidence the Council provided, so we can take no view on whether deception was used to take the children into the Council’s care. There is no discretion available to us on this point.
10. In response to Miss X’s complaint, the Council has accepted that it should have communicated with her differently when taking her children into care. This matter is related to the matters considered in court, and we will not therefore investigate it.

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Final decision

11. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because it relates to matters which have been considered in court or are closely related to those matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman