Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council managed arrangements when two siblings were separated. We cannot investigate the principal matter, which relates to contact and is not separable from a court decision. The current contact arrangements could only be altered by a court. We could not add to the Council’s own investigation, which accepts the separation could have been handled more sensitively.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said the Council failed to organise a goodbye contact when two siblings were separated, one to be adopted. She said the Council later failed to carry through a promise to arrange a contact. She said the siblings’ contact had been reduced from regular in-person contact to letterbox contact twice a year.

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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 if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with 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.

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

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Two siblings in care were due to be separated as one of them was to be adopted. The correspondence I have seen stated a court ordered there to be no contact between the siblings. It also stated that there was an intention to arrange a farewell contact after the adoption, but that this did not take place as the adoptive parents were uncomfortable with it for a specific reason. Where there has been court action, we cannot investigate matters that are not separable from those before the court. And contact is a matter that is resolved by a court where there is a dispute. We cannot therefore say whether a farewell contact should have taken place before the adoption, or whether the current contact arrangements should be changed. Only a court could mandate different contact arrangements.
9. I note the Council accepts it could have handled the separation more sensitively. However, investigation by us would not lead to a different outcome or add anything to the Council’s own findings.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because:

• We cannot investigate the principal matter concerned, which is not separable from the issue of contact, which was subject to a court order, and remains so; and
• Investigation by us would not add to the Council’s investigation or lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman