Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about information the Council provided during court proceedings. This is because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about what happens in court. For the rest, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s handling of the children’s statutory children’s complaints procedure to justify an investigation, and Social Work England is better placed to decide if a social worker is meeting their professional standards of conduct.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about information the Council provided during court proceedings. Mrs X also complains the Council refused to consider her complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure, and about the methods and performance of a social worker.
2. Mrs X says this caused distress.
3. Mrs X wants the Council to properly investigate her complaint, apologise and repay her for the cost of legal representation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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)
6. 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
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Mrs X.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating what happens in court. This includes the preparation and contents of reports that councils present during proceedings.
10. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. The accompanying statutory guidance, ‘Getting the Best from Complaints’, explains councils’ responsibilities in more detail. We also published practitioner guidance on the procedures, setting out our expectations.
11. Mrs X asked the Council to investigate her complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council refused due to there being concurrent court proceedings.
12. Councils can refuse to consider a complaint if a complainant says they intend to take legal action or if investigating a complaint could prejudice concurrent court proceedings. However, after the proceedings have ended, a complainant can resubmit the complaint for the council to consider.
13. We will also not investigate this part of Mrs X’s complaint. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider Mrs X’s statutory children’s complaint at stage two because of the concurrent court proceedings.
14. We will also not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the methods and performance of a social worker. The Ombudsman cannot investigate whether social workers are meeting their professional standards of conduct. Complaints of this nature should be referred to social workers’ professional body, Social Work England.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about what happens in court. Additionally, there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s handling of the children’s statutory complaints procedure to justify an investigation, and Social Work England is better placed to decide if a social worker is meeting their professional standards of conduct.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman