Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the support provided to Mrs X and her husband in caring for a grandchild. The final arrangements were or could have been decided in court and a legal bar prevents us investigating the matters complained of. The complaint is also late, and there would be no good reason to exercise discretion to consider it now even if there were no legal bar created by the court action.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said the Council advised them badly and other family members took out a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) for their grandchild. She said the placement quickly failed and they had to seek their own SGO, but the Council has never paid them for the care they provided, which they would have received if they had become the child's foster cares.

Back to top

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 about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
6. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

9. The child’s care was decided by a court order and Mrs X and her husband would have been legally represented. It would have been reasonable for them to raise the matter of the financial arrangements relating to the SGO in court. The court action creates a permanent legal bar that prevents us investigating these matters.
10. The complaint also dates back several years. Even if there had been no court action, Mrs X was aware of the financial situation several years ago and could have approached us sooner.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the matters complained of could reasonably have been raised during court action, and we are thus legally prevented for investigating.
12. The complaint is also late, and even if the legal bar referred to did not apply, there would be no good reason to exercise discretion to consider these late matters because Mrs X could have complained to us sooner.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman