Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate the preparation or content of a children’s services report about Mrs X. A Court considered the report before making its decision which means it forms part of legal proceedings which we cannot investigate.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, says the Council’s children’s services team produced an inaccurate report about her and failed to properly consider the extended family as carers.

Back to top

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 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
3. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mrs X provided and the Council’s replies to her, which it provided us with. I considered Mrs X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.

Back to top

What I found

5. Mrs X contacted the Council in the Spring of 2020 to put herself forward as a full time permanent carer for two of her extended family. Their mother had died. The Council was at the time caring for the children.
6. Mrs X says the Council contact her in July to discuss her offer. She says it delayed by five weeks and an officer failed to reply to emails or telephone messages. She says it conducted one telephone interview. She says from this, it compiled a report on her suitability as a carer, called a pre viability assessment. She says the assessment is poor and inaccurate.
7. Mrs X says the officer who authored the report, acted unprofessionally.
8. Mrs X says she discussed the report with the Judge in the Court proceedings, to decide who should care for the children.

Analysis

9. We cannot investigate the preparation, collation, and analysis of evidence, including reports written by social workers or other officers for court proceedings, which has been used by the Court to reach its decision.
10. It would be difficult to investigate the social worker’s actions separately from the report preparation and content. Our role is to investigate the actions of the Council as a corporate body, not to hold a single officer accountable. If Mrs X has concerns about the professionalism or integrity of an individual social worker, it is reasonable to expect her to report her concerns to their professional body, the Social Work England.

Back to top

Final decision

11. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the Court considered the Council’s assessment which she says is inaccurate and unfair.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman