Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker and the Council’s involvement with Mrs X and her family. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to find fault or add to any previous investigation. We cannot investigate any decision made by a court or related to court action.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about the actions of a social worker and the Council’s involvement with her family during enquiries and an Interim Care Order being granted by the court.

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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 investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organization. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

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. Mrs X complained a social worker provided false and misleading information about her family to the court, which led to the court granting an Interim Care Order.
8. We cannot investigate complaints about court proceedings or what happened in court as this falls outside our jurisdiction. Mrs X’s concerns about accuracy of information given to the court could have been raised during court proceedings.
9. We will also not investigate her complaint about the social worker’s actions. The Council investigated Mrs X’s complaint and provided an appropriate response to all the points raised. There is insufficient evidence of fault, and it is unlikely an investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate part of Mrs X’s complaint because it relates to matters considered by the court. We will not investigate the remaining part of Mrs X’s complaint as it is unlikely we will find fault in the Council’s actions or add to any previous investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman