Lancashire County Council (19 010 562)

Category : Children's care services > Other

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 23 Nov 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss A’s allegation that the Council produced flawed assessments during its involvement with her family. This is because it concerns matters which have been, or could have been, considered in court.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss A, complains that the Council produced flawed assessments during its involvement with her family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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)
  2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I have considered what Miss A has said in support of her complaint.

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What I found

  1. Miss A made a referral to Children’s Services while she was in a relationship she describes at controlling and abusive, During Children’s Services’ subsequent involvement with her family, she says it produced flawed Children and Family Assessments, a flawed Section 7 Report and acted with bias towards the fathers of her children. She alleges that the flawed reports disadvantaged her in private legal proceedings, and that a Council officer lied in court.
  2. The law prevents the Ombudsman from considering what happens in court. We cannot therefore consider the production or content of the Section 7 Report, or Miss A’s allegation that an officer lied.
  3. There is nothing significant to be achieved from considering Mrs A’s complaints about the Children and Family Assessments. The care of her children has been considered in court and it was open to Miss A to challenge the Council’s actions in this forum. Children’s Services is no longer involved with Miss A. The Ombudsman will not intervene.

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Final decision

  1. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns matters which have been, or could have been, considered in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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