London Borough of Harrow (19 003 169)
Category : Children's care services > Friends and family carers
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 Jul 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s children services team’s preparation and content of an assessment on her. It is part of Court proceedings and we cannot investigate Court proceedings.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains about the content and preparation of a children service’s report on her.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- We have the power to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Ms X provided with her complaint which included the Council’s replies. Ms X had an opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.
What I found
- The Council prepared a report on Ms X’s ability to be a Special Guardian for a family member. Ms X complained about the officer’s conduct who carried out the assessment. And about what they said in the report or proposed to say in it. The Council agreed to employ an independent officer instead. Ms X also complained about this second officer.
- Ms X said in an email in February 2019 to the Council the Court had agreed to the second assessment.
Analysis
- We cannot investigate the content of a report, or its preparation, if a Court ordered its production.
- If the report has not been ordered by the Court, but is part of Court proceedings, we are still prevented from investigating it if it is part of the Court’s decision making. Also, it is reasonable to expect Ms X to tell the Court of her views on why the assessment is not reliable or credible.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate the preparation or content of a report produced for Court proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman