Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s children’s services. This is because the matters complained about are not separable from matters that either have been considered during court proceedings, or could have reasonably been raised in court.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains that the Council failed to investigate safeguarding concerns raised about the care of her children by their father. She says the Council’s actions has impacted court proceedings and led to a flawed decision in court.

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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)
4. 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

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. Ms X raised several issues in her complaint to the Council including inaccurate information in assessments it produced in court, that the Council did not properly consider issues of abuse and neglect, and that a psychiatrist used in court proceedings was not qualified. Ms X says these actions led to a flawed outcome in court.
8. I will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. This is because the issues she has raised are either about matters that have been considered during court proceedings, including proceedings or issues that could reasonably have been raised during these proceedings. As such Ms X’s complaint is not separable from these court proceedings.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is about matters that have either been considered in court or could have been raised during court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman