Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about issues which cannot be separated from those being considered by the Court. We are unlikely to find fault with the Council’s decision not to use the Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council has failed to properly reply to her complaint about children services’ actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X which included the Council’s replies to her.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X complained to the Council in Autumn 2025 about children services’ actions. She says she requested it was escalated to stage two of the Children Act statutory complaints procedure in December 2025. She says the Council failed to do this. She says the same officer who replied to her at stage one also submitted a statement to Court in ongoing court proceedings about her children’s care.
7. Miss X’s complaint is about child protection action. This is an area of children services’ work which does not qualify for the statutory complaints’ procedure. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council not using that procedure.
8. The crux of Miss X’s complaint is about her children’s care. As the Courts are considering this, we will not investigate issues which cannot be separated from questions about their care or assessment of them.
9. We cannot investigate the creation and production of any evidence given to a Court. It is usual at stage one of the complaints procedure for the reply to be from someone involved in the case.

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Final decision

We cannot investigate elements of Miss X’s complaint which a Court is considering. We are unlikely to find fault with the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint within the Children Act statutory complaints procedure.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman