Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to seek removal of Miss X’s child via the courts, and related matters. The law prevents us investigating what happened in court and the Council’s decision to pursue court action. Peripheral matters are inextricably linked to the court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council:
• wrongly removed her child from her care via legal proceedings, without the appropriate safeguarding threshold being met;
• wrongly said her child chose the arrangement;
• refused to provide her evidence justifying her child’s removal;
• failed to provide appropriate support;
• used the Mental Health Act as a retaliatory and coercive tool, threatening to section her any time she pursued complaints; and
• failed to respond to her complaints.
2. Miss X said her and her child’s human rights have been violated, and she has been denied the opportunity to have her views fairly represented and considered.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. 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))
5. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
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, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(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 the complainant.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. We cannot investigate the Council’s decision to pursue court proceedings. We also cannot investigate what happened in court, which includes the content of the Council’s representations to court.
10. Miss X’s complaints about the Council’s actions, even where they occurred prior to proceedings, are too intertwined with the proceedings themselves and so we will not investigate them. Miss X disagrees, and believes the matters she raises are separable to the proceedings. I have considered her view, however it was reasonable for Miss X to raise her concerns as part of the proceedings. Allegations such as the Council not providing sufficient support to the family, and communicating incorrect assertions about the child’s wishes, were directly relevant to the court’s consideration of her child’s welfare.
11. Miss X did not explicitly tell us what outcome she seeks from complaining to us. However, for the avoidance of doubt, we cannot overturn decisions made by the courts and we could not decide her child should return to her care. Only the courts could decide this. It is open to Miss X to seek legal advice.
12. 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. We will not investigate the Council’s complaint-handling in isolation. This includes Miss X’s assertion the Council has attempted to dissuade her from complaining. We have no power to investigate the substantive matter Miss X complains about, and it is not proportionate to investigate the peripheral matters alone.

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Final decision

13. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because the law prevents us investigating what happened in court and the Council’s decision to pursue court action. Peripheral matters are inextricably linked to the court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman