Hampshire County Council (24 003 784)
Category : Children's care services > Friends and family carers
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Sep 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an assessment carried out by the Council’s social worker. This is because the assessment was carried out to inform the Court. This places the matter outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
The complaint
- The complainant, Miss X, complains that the Council’s social worker was at fault in how she assessed her suitability to care for her granddaughter.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X’s granddaughter was looked after by the Council and was placed in foster care. Miss X asked for the child to be placed in her care. As part of legal proceedings, the Court asked the Council to carry out an assessment of her suitability to care for her granddaughter.
- The Council’s social worker assessed Miss X to be unsuitable and wrote a report for the Court setting out this conclusion. Miss X complains that the social worker was intimidating, unprofessional and negative in her approach during the assessment. She says the outcome has had a negative impact on her relationship with her granddaughter.
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because the assessment was carried out in order to inform the Court and its conclusions formed part of the evidence the Court considered. This means that, by law, we have no jurisdiction to investigate the assessment’s content or how it was produced.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because it concerns an assessment carried out for use by the Court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman