Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X's complaint about a social worker's involvement in child welfare proceedings. The law says we cannot investigate matters considered by a court or issues that are too closely linked to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council's social worker failed to engage with her properly during the court proceedings. She did not consider her concerns and produced reports that were favourable to her children's father and unfairly critical of her. She says the social worker failed to accurately record information, did not properly consider the case history and made recommendations that contributed to decisions which left her separated from her child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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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. As part of private law proceedings involving children, the court may ask the Council to produce a section 7 or 37 report. The court will then consider the report as part of its decision making. Because section 7 and 37 reports form part of court proceedings, we cannot investigate complaints about their preparation, content or the social worker's recommendations to the court.
8. It was reasonable for Miss X to raise her concerns about the social worker’s actions and reports directly with the court, because these issues relate to the court’s consideration of the Council’s evidence. Therefore, these issues are inseparable from the court's consideration of the case.
9. We cannot investigate matters considered by a court or issues that are too closely linked to those proceedings.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Miss X's complaint because the issues complained about are too closely linked to family court proceedings and the law prevents us from investigating them.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman