Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the social worker allocated to her grandson’s case. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings on the case.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the social worker allocated to her grandson’s case. She says the social worker does not like her or her son and is not acting in the best interests of her grandson. She has asked the Council to allocate a new social worker but it has refused her request.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Miss X complained to the Council about the social workers allocated to her grandson’s case.
9. The Council told Miss X it would not consider her complaint at present because it relates to matters that are subject to ongoing court proceedings. It considered it could be prejudicial to the ongoing proceedings for it to carry out a concurrent investigation into the issues raised in her complaint. It told Miss X she could resubmit her complaint for consideration once the proceedings have concluded and advised her to raise her concerns with her legal representative.
10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings. As set out in the Council's response, this is to ensure the proceedings, which must take precedence over any complaint investigation, are not put at risk of being prejudiced by a concurrent complaint investigation. It is a decision the Council is entitled to make and it has clearly explained its reasons. It has been made in line with the statutory guidance on the handling of children’s services complaints where there are ongoing proceedings.
11. We cannot investigate complaints about matters that are being, or have been, considered in court proceedings or which could have been raised and considered in court. Such matters lie outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider them.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman