Summary: We cannot investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s children services consideration of their concerns about their grandchild’s care or the Council’s views and decisions on care. The Court is currently considering the child’s care.

The complaint

1. The complainants, whom I shall call Mr and Mrs X, say the Council’s children services team ignored their concerns, failed to help them with contact and has refused to reply to their complaint.

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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)
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 we believe 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 considered the information Mr and Mrs X provided with their complaint which included the Council’s reply to them. I considered Mr and Mrs X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

6. Mr and Mrs X say they cared for their grandchild for 8 months in 2020. They say the child then went to live with their father. Mr and Mrs X say the Council has not considered properly the concerns they have about the father’s care. They say they have struggled to have contact with the child since their move to their father. They have now applied to Court for a Child Arrangement Order.
7. Mr and Mrs X complained to the Council about their officers’ treatment of the case. They say the social worker allocated to the case has been biased and unfair The Council said it was not appropriate to consider their complaint whilst the Court proceedings continued.

Analysis

8. We cannot investigate the same issues the Court is considering. This means we cannot investigate the contact Mr and Mrs X has with their grandchild. We also cannot investigate the Council’s views on this, nor their actions in relation to contact.
9. We cannot investigate any issues which are too connected to and not separable from the court proceedings. The Court, during Child Arrangement Order proceedings, has to consider the welfare of the child as a whole. This includes the care the child receives at home. The Court can make orders about the children’s care, and order for assessments to be carried out. It is reasonable to expect Mr and Mrs X to tell the Court their concerns about the father’s care.
10. The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin)). This means we cannot investigate the Council’s decision not to consider their complaint.

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Final decision

11. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the Court is considering the child’s care.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman