Durham County Council (21 000 398)

Category : Children's care services > Other

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 01 Jun 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the content of a Section 7 report and the conduct of the social worker involved in her case. This is because we cannot investigate what happens in court. This includes the content of court reports. It is reasonable for Mrs X to raise her concerns in court, and she has the option of contacting the regulatory body for social workers in England.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, complained about the content of a Section 7 report and the conduct of the social worker who produced the report.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  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

  1. I considered Mrs X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I also gave Mrs X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before issuing a final decision on her complaint.

Back to top

What I found

  1. Under Section 7 of the Children Act 1989, a court may ask a council to provide a report about the welfare of any child who is the subject of court proceedings.
  2. A council social worker produced a Section 7 report. Mrs X is unhappy with the content of the report and the conduct of the social worker who produced the report.
  3. The law prevents the Ombudsman from considering what happens in court. A Section 7 report is produced at the request of a court and for use in court. It is not the property of the Council and the Ombudsman cannot consider its content or any potential fault in how it was produced. If Mrs X is unhappy with the content of the report, then it is reasonable for her to raise her concerns in court. The court can then consider any evidence Mrs X wants to present in support of her case.
  4. Mrs X also complains in general about the social worker involved in her case. But the concerns she raises are intrinsically linked to the Section 7 report and cannot be separated. We will not therefore investigate.
  5. The Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) is the regulatory body for social workers in England. It is open to Mrs X to contact the HCPC with any general concerns she has about the social worker involved in her case.

Back to top

Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because we cannot consider complaints linked to court proceedings and it is reasonable for Mrs X to raise her concerns in court.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Print this page

LGO logogram

Review your privacy settings

Required cookies

These cookies enable the website to function properly. You can only disable these by changing your browser preferences, but this will affect how the website performs.

View required cookies

Analytical cookies

Google Analytics cookies help us improve the performance of the website by understanding how visitors use the site.
We recommend you set these 'ON'.

View analytical cookies

In using Google Analytics, we do not collect or store personal information that could identify you (for example your name or address). We do not allow Google to use or share our analytics data. Google has developed a tool to help you opt out of Google Analytics cookies.

Privacy settings