Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council sought to take his son into care. This is because the complaint concerns a decision made by the court. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the actions of social services following a referral from his GP. There is insufficient evidence of fault which would warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council actively sought to take his son into care by supplying false information to court. Mr X also complained that he has been harassed by social services as a result of a referral from his GP to the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub.

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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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered all the information Mr X provided. I have also considered the Council’s response. I have written to Mr X with my draft decision and considered his comments.

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What I found

Court documents

6. Mr X says the Council submitted three documents containing false information to the court. He says the Council did this in order to take his son into care.
7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this element of Mr X’s complaint because it concerns matters that are connected to court proceedings.

Contact from social services

8. Mr X says he was harassed and threatened by social services following an appointment with his GP.
9. Mr X’s GP made a referral to children’s services in response to some of the issues raised in Mr X’s appointment. GPs have a duty to make referrals to children’s services where they have relevant concerns. The referral was sent to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH), which is made up of Council social workers, and health and police staff.
10. The Council has a statutory duty under the Children Act 1989 to explore the concerns raised in the referral. The Council social workers met this duty by telephoning Mr X to discuss the issues raised by his GP. The social workers called Mr X between two and four times.
11. The social workers also sent an email to Mr X in August 2019 confirming children’s services were not pursuing the referral further. They said that any future calls would be in response to new referrals.
12. The Council’s actions were reasonable and did not constitute harassment or threatening behaviour. An investigation by the Ombudsman is unlikely to reach a finding of fault.

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Final decision

13. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the actions the Council took in relation to the court proceedings. This is because the law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating anything which has been considered in court. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about social services. There is insufficient evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman