Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council proposed a way forwards and there is not enough evidence of fault in its handling of her complaint to justify our involvement.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about her dealings with Children’s Services. She is unhappy the Council has not responded to her complaint.

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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 impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. I have carefully considered everything Ms X said, although I have not included every detail here. I have included as few details as possible to protect the anonymity of Ms X and her family.
6. The Council had concerns for the welfare of Ms X’s children. The Council followed child protection procedures and then applied to Court to take the children into care.
7. Ms X is unhappy with the support she received from the Council. She disagrees with the Council’s decision to take her children into care. She has sent many messages to the Council to say how unhappy she is and completed more than a dozen online complaint forms.
8. Once the care proceedings were over, the Council offered to investigate Ms X’s complaint. The Council arranged a meeting with an independent investigator.
9. Ms X and the independent investigator were unable to agree a statement of complaint to form the basis of the investigation. The Council wrote to Ms X to say that it had decided not to proceed with her complaint. It said it would continue to support Ms X’s children and promote her relationship with them where possible.
10. To continue the investigation, the Council said it needed Ms X to provide a clear and focussed written statement setting out the issues she wanted the Council to consider. The Council suggested Ms X contact an advocacy service for support.
11. Unhappy with the Council’s response, Ms X complained to us.
12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint.
13. The Council has proposed a way forwards and explained what Ms X must do if it is to investigate her complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s handling of Ms X’s complaint to justify our involvement.
14. In any event, we cannot investigate complaints about matters which have been considered by the Court. This is likely to prevent us from considering most, if not all, the matters Ms X is unhappy with. This makes it especially important that Ms X provides the Council with the information it needs if she wants to pursue her complaint because any investigation is likely to be undertaken by the Council and not us.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council proposed a way forwards and there is not enough evidence of fault in its handling of her complaint to justify our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman