Summary: We cannot investigate the Council’s decision to begin care proceedings for a child. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court.

The complaint

1. Mrs Z complained the Council wrongly initiated care proceedings for her child. Mrs Z also said the decision to remove her child from her care was wrong, threshold was not met for the court application, social work practice was poor, and her human rights were breached.
2. Mrs Z said this caused distress to her and her child.
3. Mrs Z wants the Council to review its processes.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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)
6. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Mrs Z and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. We cannot investigate Mrs Z’s complaint. The matters that Mrs Z wants to complain about are inseparable from matters that form part of the conduct of court proceedings. The law prevents us from investigating a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court.
10. The Ombudsman cannot investigate whether social workers are meeting their professional standards of conduct. Complaints of this nature should be referred to the social workers’ professional body, Social Work England.

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Final decision

11. We cannot investigate Mrs Z’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman