Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions while his children were in foster care. This is because decisions about the children’s future are for the court, and it would be disproportionate to look at the remaining issues separately.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council did not meet his children’s needs when they were in foster care. He wants responsibility for their care returned to him. He says this has caused him upset.

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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.
3. 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)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. 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))
6. 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

7. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. Mr X says the Council did not meet his children’s health needs while they were in foster care. He wants responsibility for his children returned to him.
10. A court has made care and placement orders, putting the children in the Council’s care. This means decisions about the children’s future are for the court, not for the Ombudsman.
11. Mr X disagrees with the Council taking court action. The law prevents us from investigating councils’ decisions to begin court proceedings and what happens in court.
12. Mr X can ask the court to change the court orders and put the children in his care. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to take court action because: the courts are already involved; only the courts can decide where the children should live and with whom they should have contact; and Mr X can seek legal help as necessary. We also could not achieve the outcome Mr X wants. .
13. Mr X also raised concerns about the information he receives from the Council about the children’s care. This is closely linked to the substantive court decisions about where the children should live and who should have care of them. It would be disproportionate for us to investigate this issue separately.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the main matters he complains of are for the court and it would be disproportionate to look at the remaining matters separately.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman