Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in its child protection involvement with her family because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered and decided in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains about the Council’s actions in its child protection involvement with her family. The case has been subject to court proceedings. Miss X says the Council removed her children illegally and lied to the police in order to do so. She says the Council has ignored the judge and as a result of the Council’s lies she is now only able to see her children every two weeks. Miss X would like her children to be returned to her care.

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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. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)

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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 complained to the Council about the matters set out in paragraph one, above.
8. The Council told Miss X it would not consider the matter via its complaints procedure because the case was subject to ongoing court proceedings. It advised Miss X to raise her concerns to the court via her legal representative. The proceedings concluded a few months ago and Miss X’s children were placed in the care of the Council.
9. This is not a complaint we can investigate. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is about matters that have been considered and decided in court proceedings. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about such matters and we have no discretion to do so. This legal restriction means we cannot consider complaints about evidence provided to the court during proceedings.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman