Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the actions of Council officers regarding the care of the complainant’s children. This is because the complaint concerns matters which have been 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’s social worker has failed to provide her with support and failed to inform the courts of a conflict of interest, and that the Council has made it hard for her to see 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)
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. Miss X’s children have been the subject of public law proceedings in court. Miss X says her social worker has been at fault throughout the process. She says the social worker made false statements and failed to inform the court of a conflict of interest. She further complains about the circumstances in which one of her children was removed from her care, which she says was unlawful.
8. Miss X also complains about the actions of staff who supervise her contact with her child, saying they have made it hard for her to see the child. She wants a new social worker and a new team to carry out a further parenting assessment.
9. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint. The law says we cannot consider matters which have been considered in court, or are closely related to those matters. It is clear that the care of and contact with Miss X’s children have been considered in court. This places them outside our jurisdiction. This restriction applies to evidence presented to the court. If Miss X wants changes to the care or contact arrangements, her recourse is to go back to court. There is no role for the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

10. 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