Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of a child’s care arrangements. This is because the care of the child was considered and decided by a court, and the law prevents us from investigating what happens in court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, says she is unhappy about the care arrangements for her child. She says she was not kept informed about meetings with the Council and she would like visits with the child to be unsupervised.

Back to top

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 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))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

7. Miss X complained that she was unhappy with her child’s care arrangements. She says she was not invited to meetings about her child’s care and was not sent meeting minutes. Miss X says visits with the child have been supervised but she would like unsupervised visits. The Council declined to answer Miss X’s complaint due to ongoing court proceedings.
8. The care arrangements for the child have now been decided by a court. The law says we cannot investigate what happened in court, or matters which are related to what a court has considered. The redress open to Miss X would be to go back to court.

Back to top

Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because it concerns matters which have been considered in court, or are closely related to such matters.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman