Cumbria County Council (19 017 790)
Category : Children's care services > Looked after children
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Apr 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council removed her children without notice and is preventing her from having contact with them. This is because the complaint relates to matters which have been, or can be, decided in court.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss B, complains that the Council removed her children without notice and is preventing her from having contact with them.
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)
- 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 have considered what Miss B has said in support of his complaint.
What I found
- Miss B says the Council took her children into care in 2018. She complains that it did so without notice. She further complains that the Council is now preventing her from having telephone contact to which she is entitled. Miss B wants the Council to provide support to allow her to have the children back in her care. She says the children want to come back and their school supports this.
- The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss B’s complaint. The decision to place the children in the Council’s care was a decision of the court, not the Council. By law, the Ombudsman cannot consider a court’s decision.
- Decisions about where the children are placed are for the court, not the Ombudsman. If Miss B wants the children back in her care, or wants more contact with them, she may take the matter to court. It would be reasonable for her to do so.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because in concerns matters which have been, or can be, decided in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman