Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her children’s case between 2011 and 2023. The law says we cannot consider complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. The complaint also lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the Council’s handling of her children’s case between 2011 and 2023. Miss X says that during the court proceedings she was assessed and incorrectly diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. She says the Council knew this but for the past ten years it has denied her reasonable contact with her children who are subject to care orders.

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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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X complained to the Council about its handling of her children’s case between 2011 and 2023. The case was considered in court proceedings and the children were subject to care orders.
8. The Council told Miss X it would not consider her complaint via its complaints procedure because it was about events that happened well over 12 months ago. It signposted Miss X to this office.
9. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been subject to court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. This restriction also means we cannot consider the Council’s actions in the proceedings nor can we consider complaints about any evidence or reports the Council provided to the court during the course of the proceedings.
10. Decisions about where Miss X’s children live and contact arrangements will have been considered and made by the courts. The issues raised by Miss X are inextricably linked to the court proceedings and we cannot consider them.
11. The complaint also lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late, but due to the restriction set out in paragraph 9, above, we could not have considered this complaint even if it had been made in time.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and the law says we have no discretion to consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman