London Borough of Bromley (25 012 113)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 Jan 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement in her children being removed from her care. This is because it concerns matters that have either been considered in court or could reasonably be raised during court proceedings.
The complaint
- Miss X says the Council failed to support her and her family which led to her children being removed from her care and about the use of social care reports. Miss X wants the reports to be amended and her children returned to her care.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- 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))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the issues she has raised are ones that have either been considered in court or could reasonable be raised by Miss X during proceedings. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about what has happened in court, this includes the contents of reports provided by councils during proceedings.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it concerns matters that have either been considered in court or could reasonably be raised in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman