Lincolnshire County Council (25 012 255)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Jan 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to safeguarding concerns the complainant raised about her daughter. The child’s care has been the subject of court action and the issues raised in the complaint are closely related to matters which could have been raised in court.
The complaint
- The complainant, Miss X, complains that the Council failed to consider and act on her concerns about her child’s safety.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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
- Miss X complains about the Council’s response to safeguarding concerns she raised with the Council about her daughter. She claims that her daughter’s father poses a risk to her, and that her daughter does not want to stay with him. She says the Council has failed to take account of her daughter’s views and is at fault in deciding not to take safeguarding action.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. The correspondence Miss X has provided shows that, following the Council’s decision that there were insufficient grounds to take safeguarding action, Miss X daughter’s care was considered in court. The matters she raised with the Council concerning potential risk to her daughter’s welfare could also have been raised in court, or are closely related to such matters. That being the case, there is no role for Ombudsman.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the issues raised in the complaint are closely related to matters which could have been considered in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman