Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s removal of Mr X’s children in late 2023. We cannot consider matters that have been subject to court proceedings, and it was reasonable for Mr X to raise all concerns as part of the subsequent care proceedings. We could not achieve the outcome he seeks.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council removing his children in November 2023 without a court order. He said he and the children’s mother had not seen their children for 15 months. They wanted their children returned to their care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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 we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X’s complaint is about the Council’s removal of his children, which he says was prior to court involvement.
9. The law prevents us from investigating councils’ decisions to begin court proceedings and what happens in court. We could not investigate the substantive matters involved in this case, as they were considered in court.
10. The events prior to court proceedings beginning are matters that were reasonable for Mr X to raise in court. Concerns he had with the Council’s actions when removing the children were relevant to the court’s consideration of the children’s best interests. The Council’s decision to remove the children was tested via the court process, and the court issued an interim care order. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about events in the lead up to proceedings beginning.
11. In any event, the events Mr X complains about occurred in November 2023. The law says people must bring complaints to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter, unless there are good reasons. There is not a good reason for us to consider events from late 2023 now.
12. We also could not achieve the outcome Mr X seeks in any event. Only the courts can decide where the children should live and with whom they should have contact.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is about matters that have been considered in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman