Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council removed his children from his care and denied his contact with them for over seven years. Decisions about care arrangements are made by the Courts and therefore we cannot consider them. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s refusal to consider the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council removed his children from his care seven years ago and has denied his contact with them since that time. He also complains about the Council’s refusal to consider the complaint.
2. Mr X says the matter has caused ongoing frustration and a sense of loss in the family. He wants the Council to review its care and contact decisions and acknowledge its mistakes and the harm caused.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mr X.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Decisions about care arrangements are made by the Courts and therefore we have no jurisdiction to consider such decisions. If Mr X disputes the care arrangements then we would expect him to challenge this in Court. It is not unreasonable for him to do so and therefore I will not investigate this aspect of his complaint.
9. The Council’s complaints policy allows it to refuse complaints that are older than 12 months, unless there are good reasons. The Council’s complaint response shows it considered the reasons for the delay in complaining but decided not to accept the complaint. It was entitled to do so and there is not enough evidence of fault on this point to justify us investigating.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because decisions about care arrangements are made by the Courts and therefore we cannot consider them. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s refusal of the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman