London Borough of Camden (20 010 056)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 04 Mar 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Ms C’s complaint about the contents of a social work assessment. This is because this matter is subject to court proceedings.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I shall refer to as Ms C, complains about the contents of a social work assessment. Ms C says the report led to her daughter being placed with foster carers. Ms C says this has placed her daughter at risk of harm and caused Ms C significant distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered Ms C’s complaint and the Council’s response. I have invited Ms C to comment on a draft version of this decision.
What I found
- Ms C has a daughter who is a looked after child and is living with foster carers.
- In October 2019, Ms C was subject to a mental health assessment. The outcome of this assessment was included in a social work assessment.
- Ms C complained to the Council about the contents of the assessment. The Council responded to her complaint at stage 1 of its complaints process in January 2020.
- The Council has said that it will not respond to Ms C’s complaint at stage 2 of its complaints procedure, because the social work assessment is now subject to legal proceedings.
- The Council says Ms C will soon be assigned an official solicitor to represent her during these proceedings.
Assessment
- I cannot investigate Ms C’s complaint about the contents of a social work assessment.
- This is because the content of the assessment is subject to court proceedings and the law does not allow us to investigate anything which forms part of legal proceedings.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the matter is subject to court proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman