St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (24 014 473)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Jan 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about his child being removed from his care because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been subject to court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.
The complaint
- The complainant, Mr X, complains his daughter has been removed from his care as a result of lies and false allegations against him.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X complained to the Council about its handling of his daughter’s case which has led to her being removed from his care. The case has been subject to court proceedings and there is a care order in place.
- The Council told Mr X it could not consider his complaint via its complaints procedure because the appropriate route to address the issues raised in his complaint is to seek independent legal advice.
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and the law says we have no discretion to consider it.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman