Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint that the Council has failed to carry out actions it agreed in conclusion of a complaint about children’s services. This is because the content of the complaint is not separable from matters which have been considered and decided in court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss X, complains that the Council has failed to carry out the actions it agreed in conclusion of her complaint about children’s services. As a result, ongoing safeguarding concerns relating to her daughter remain unaddressed.

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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.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X’s daughter was the subject of private law proceedings relating to contact. In the course of the proceedings, the Court instructed the Council to produce a report under Section 7 of the Children Act 1989. Miss X contends that the report and the related risk assessment it carried out were flawed, and were material to the outcome of the proceedings. The proceedings concluded with the Court setting out arrangements for contact between Miss X’s daughter and her father.
7. Miss X believes the current arrangements present a safeguarding risk. She made a complaint to the Council, which completed the statutory procedure for complaints about children’s services. The Council accepted the findings of the procedure and agreed to reopen the case to carry out direct work with Miss X’s daughter and amend and correct the risk assessment. Miss X complains that this work has not been done and, as a result, the ongoing risk to her daughter has not been addressed.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because the matters about which she complains relate to the alleged risks posed to her daughter from members of her paternal family. The evidence shows that this is a matter which was specifically considered by the Court. The complaint, and the outcomes Miss X is seeking are inextricably bound up with the questions before the Court and therefore fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
9. This restriction applies to the matters considered under the statutory complaint procedure, so the complaint’s outcome does not fall to be investigated. Miss X’s recourse is to return to the Court to ask it to make alternative arrangements. If the Court believes the Council should reconsider the matter, it can direct it to do so. There is no role for the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the matters about which she complains are not separable from those which were considered and decided in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman