Gloucestershire County Council (26 017 945)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 29 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the actions of Council staff in connection with her child. This is because it is too closely linked with matters before the court, so we have no remit to investigate.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council has treated her unfairly, failed to communicate properly, failed to respond to her correspondence, and set her up to fail.
- Miss X says these issues have caused her stress and have affected contact with her child.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The complaint information includes the Council’s response to Miss X. The Council wrote that Miss X’s complaint has already been raised within ongoing care proceedings and is known to the legal teams involved. The Council explained it will not investigate Miss X’s concerns through the complaints procedure due to the ongoing court proceedings.
- We will not investigate this complaint because it is too closely linked to ongoing court proceedings.
- Miss X’s complaint concerns the actions, communication and conduct of children's social care staff involved in an active case before the court. The matters complained about, including her effort to have a child returned to her care, are all closely connected to issues being considered within the ongoing legal proceedings.
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate matters that may conflict with, duplicate, or undermine ongoing matters before a court. The court is best placed to consider Miss X’s evidence about the Council's involvement with the family and any impact these matters may have on decisions about the child's welfare.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is closely linked to matters before a court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman