Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with her child, who is in care. The law prevents us investigating how the Council conducted court action. Miss X could also reasonably have raised her concerns in court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council:
1. lied and twisted her words, which meant her daughter has not been allowed to return home since she was put into care at birth;
2. told her the best place for the child was with the carers;
3. has not listened to her concerns and has shown bias;
4. does not respond to correspondence; and
5. did not ask her relative to give evidence in court.

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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 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)).

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Miss X.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council completed its assessments during court action regarding Miss X’s child. The court then decided to aware a full care order for the child.
8. The law says we cannot investigate the way the Council conducted itself during court proceedings. That includes how the Council gathered information for the court action and what the Council told the court.
9. Miss X could have argued her case in court on any points where she believed the Council was wrong. Miss X also could have asked the court to consider any other evidence she believed was relevant. So Miss X’s complaints about these points are too close to matters the court considered for us to be able to investigate them.
10. We recognise the court’s decision to award the care order is upsetting and frustrating for Miss X, but neither the Council nor the Ombudsman can overturn the court’s decision.
11. I considered the other elements of Miss X’s complaint about how the Council communicates with her, but these are peripheral to the central point of the complaint, which is about Miss X wanting the child to live with her. It would be disproportionate to investigate these peripheral points when we cannot investigate the main point.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating how the Council conducted the the court action. It is also reasonable to expect Miss X to have raised her concerns in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman