Summary: We will not investigate Ms M’s complaint about Children’s Services because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable. We cannot consider Ms M’s complaint about a Court order authorising the Council to refuse her contact with her children; she could have raised her concerns about the Council’s evidence with the Court; and the Council’s decision not to share any information about the children with Ms M was accepted by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The complaint

1. Ms M requests a full investigation into what she describes as “systemic failure” by Children’s Services. Her children are in care. The Court has granted the Council an order authorising it to refuse contact between Ms M and her children. Ms M complains about the actions of the Council connected with its application for the order and other aspects of the children’s care. The Council has refused to investigate Ms M’s complaint because it says her children do not want her to have any information about them.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 1, as amended)
3. We may decide not to investigate a complaint 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), as amended)
4. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Ms M asked the Council to investigate 17 complaints. I will not list them here, but I have considered each one carefully. There is one common theme. Ms M disagrees with the Court’s decision to grant an order to the Council authorising it to refuse contact between Ms M and her children. In her complaints, she questions the evidence the Council used in its application and the means by which the Council obtained the evidence. She complains about the impact of the order on her and her dealings with the Council.
8. We cannot investigate Ms M’s complaint about the order and the restrictions it imposes because it concerns a decision of the Court.
9. It would have been reasonable for Ms M to have raised her concerns about the Council’s evidence with the Court, so we will not consider these matters now.
10. In her complaint to us, Ms M complained the Council had not shared information about her children that she believed she was entitled to receive. Ms M said the Council was acting in breach of a decision of the Information Commissioner’s Office.
11. The Council sent me its correspondence with the Information Commissioner’s Office in which it explained why it would not share information with Ms M. The Information Commissioner’s Office accepted the Council’s explanation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms M’s complaint because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable. We cannot consider Ms M’s complaint about the Court order; she could have raised her concerns about the Council’s evidence with the Court; and the Council’s decision not to share any information about the children with Ms M was accepted by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman