Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about the Council’s child protection involvement in relation to her granddaughter and about the Council not sharing information with her or allowing her to attend meetings as she does not have parental responsibility. Miss X says false allegations have been made against her. The case is subject to ongoing care proceedings.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Miss X complained to the Council about its child protection actions in relation to her granddaughter who had been living with her. The case is subject to ongoing care proceedings.
7. The Council informed Miss X it could not consider her complaint due to the ongoing care proceedings and explained the reasons for this.
8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings. This is in line with the statutory guidance for local authorities childrens services on the handling of complaints. This is in order to prevent the court proceedings, which must take precedence, from being prejudiced by any concurrent complaint investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman