Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the money she received for caring for family members as it is unlikely we could achieve more. And we cannot investigate the contact she now has with the children as that is subject to legal proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, says the Council’s children services team failed to pay her the correct amount for caring for a relative and wrongly removed the children from their care.

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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 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:
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X looked after three of her extended family members, who were children, for 17 days in June 2022. She says the Council should have paid her for caring for them. She says they were removed from her care in a way which was not right. She says since then she has struggled to get contact with them and has not been kept informed about their lives.
7. All three children were moved to foster care placements. The Council says there were Court proceedings about their care. Tragically one of the children has since died. Mrs X says her family have not been properly informed about how and why.
8. The Council in response to Mrs X’s complaint has paid her an amount for the 17 days she cared for the children. It has also confirmed other smaller amounts it paid. It is unlikely our investigation could achieve more.
9. The Court has been deciding the children’s care. This includes the contact with family members. We cannot investigate the same issues the Court is and has considered.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we are unlikely to achieve more and we cannot investigate issues which a Court has considered and is considering.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman