Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council has refused to consider a complaint about the care of the complainant’s children, until court proceedings have concluded. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s decision.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains about the care arrangements of her children who are looked after. Mrs X says the Council has refused to consider her complaint, until after court proceedings have concluded.

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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 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 continue an investigation if we decided 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

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X complained to the Council about the care arrangements in place for her children, who are looked after. The Council considered the complaint at stage one of the statutory procedure for children’s complaints. Mrs X asked the Council to escalate her complaint to stage two, but it refused, due to ongoing court proceedings regarding the care of the children.
6. I will not investigate the Council’s decision to temporarily close Mrs X’s complaint. This is because there is no evidence of fault in its decision. Regulation 8 of The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 says councils can refuse to consider a complaint if to do so could prejudice concurrent court proceedings. Mrs X can resubmit her complaint once the proceedings have concluded. We will not consider the issues raised within the complaint until the complaints process has concluded.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman