Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Miss X’s complaints about the Council’s actions in relation to matters that have been subject to court proceedings because they lie outside his jurisdiction. The law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating matters that have been considered and decided in court. He will not consider Miss X’s complaint about poor communication by the Council. This is because it is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman would add to the response already provided by the Council on this part of her complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about the Council’s actions in relation to her, and her children, between 2016 and 2017.

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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 can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
5. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we could add to any previous investigation by the Council, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information Miss X provided. I also considered the complaint correspondence which we requested from the Council. I sent Miss X a draft of my decision and considered her comments in response.

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What I found

7. Miss X complains about the Council’s actions, in 2016 and 2017, when her son was removed from her care and during subsequent court proceedings relating to her children.
8. Miss X complains:
• her son was taken into care following his birth in 2016 and she was not given time to get legal assistance;
• the Council failed to comply with a court order to submit an amended care plan; and
• the Council’s communication with her was poor.

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Final decision

9. We cannot consider Miss X’s complaints about her son being taken into care and about the social worker’s failure to provide an amended care plan to the court. These matters lie outside our jurisdiction because they relate to matters that have been subject to court proceedings. The law prevents us from considering such matters and we have no discretion to do so. Neither can we question or consider the court’s existing or future decisions in relation to Miss X’s children. This remains a matter for the court.
10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s poor communication. This is because the Council, in its complaint response, has already acknowledged fault in its communication with Miss X and has apologised for this. It also made a payment to Miss X to acknowledge her time and trouble in pursuing her complaint. It is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman would be able to add to the Council’s response on this point. As a result, there would be no worthwhile outcome achievable by an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman