Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement with his family because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from considering complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. Investigation into other issues raised would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the action of the Council’s children’s services. He complains about:

• the contents of assessments provided by the Council.
• the actions of CAFCASS, Barnados and the police.
• social work decisions and communication.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(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 Mr X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X sent a complaint to the Council in July 2023. The Council told him it could not accept the complaint because of ongoing court proceedings. He sent the complaint again in February 2024, after the proceedings ended.
7. Mr X complained about the assessments used in court. I cannot investigate this part of his complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that are being or have been considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. This includes the contents of assessments that have been considered in court.
8. Mr X also complained that the Council refused to change his family’s social worker and how it communicated with him. It is for the Council and not the Ombudsman to decide how social workers are allocated so investigating this element of Mr X’s complaint would not lead to a different outcome, particularly as the family’s case is now closed. Poor communication alone does not cause a significant enough injustice to warrant our investigation.
9. Mr X also raised concerns about CAFCASS, Barnados and the police. I cannot investigate those complaints because we have no jurisdiction to investigate these bodies.
10. Mr X complained about how the Council handled his complaint. However, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law prevents us from considering complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. Investigation into other issues raised would not lead to a different outcome

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman