Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains about the social workers allocated to her child’s case and about the contents of their reports.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), 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 complained to the Council about the social workers allocated to her child’s case and about the contents of their reports.
7. The Council told Miss X it would not consider her complaint at this time because the case is currently being considered in private court proceedings. It advised Miss X to raise her concerns to the court during the proceedings. It confirmed she can resubmit her complaint to the Council once the proceedings have concluded, but that it cannot consider matters relating to the proceedings or the court’s decision.
8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings. It is a decision the Council is entitled to make. This is to ensure the court proceedings are not prejudiced by a concurrent complaint investigation. The Council’s approach is in line with the statutory guidance to local authority children’s services on the handling of complaints. This guidance gives councils discretion to decide not to consider complaints where to do so could prejudice any concurrent proceedings, including court proceedings.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst the case is subject to ongoing court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman