Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this allegation that a social worker entered the complainant’s home without consent and behaved inappropriately. This is because the incident will be considered in court and has been reported to the police.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, complains that a social worker entered her home without permission and behaved inappropriately.

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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. The Ombudsman cannot investigate allegations of crime.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read the complaint and found out from the Council that the incident is due to be considered in court. I considered comments Ms X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

6. Ms X says she discovered a social worker in her home. Ms X says the social worker made inappropriate comments about Ms X’s son and grandchildren. Ms X reports that the social worker was shouting and waving her arms around. Ms X says there are no concerns about her son’s behaviour regarding his children. Ms X says the social worker refused to leave and, when she did leave, immediately tried to re-force entry. Ms X says her grandchildren were very distressed by what happened.
7. In response to her complaint the Council said it could not get involved because the incident was subject to a police investigation.
8. In response to my enquires the Council said the case notes state the social worker was assaulted by Ms X’s son and she was physically ejected from the property. The incident has been logged with the police who plan to take a statement from the social worker. The incident will be considered in court as part of on-going court proceedings. The Council says a finding of fact about the incident was twice listed to be considered in court but was delayed. It will be addressed as part of the final court hearing.

Assessment

9. I cannot start an investigation for the following reasons.
10. The law says the Ombudsman cannot investigate any matter which is the subject of legal proceedings. The incident will be considered in court which means I cannot get involved. In addition, the matter has been logged with the police which is an appropriate body to consider what happened.
11. Ms X says her son has not been arrested or charged. She also says the police are not considering the incident on her behalf and that nobody is considering the complaint from her perspective. However, the incident will be considered in court which means I have no power to investigate the complaint. This restriction applies despite the points raised by Ms X.

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Final decision

12. I cannot start an investigation because the matter will be considered in court and there is an open police investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman