Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint that the Council were responsible for delays to court proceedings and that it has refused to reimburse the complainants legal fees. This is because the law prevents us from investigating matters that have been considered in court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains that the Council’s change of position regarding Mrs X’s suitability as a prospective Special Guardian resulted in significant delays to court proceedings and resulted in her incurring legal fees of over £10,000.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X complained to the Council that its change in position in regard to her suitability as a Special Guardian for her nieces led to delays in court proceedings and her incurring legal costs of £10,000. She also complained that the Council delayed approving her as a Family and Friends Carer, meaning the correct allowance was not paid for a period of eight months.
7. The Council considered Mrs X’s complaint under the three stage statutory children’s complaints procedure. At stage one of this process, the Council partially upheld Mrs X’s complaint about the delays paying the correct carers allowances and offered her a financial remedy. The Council did not uphold the other elements of her complaint. Mrs X accepted the financial remedy for the shortfall in her carers allowance which she said was fair. However, she progressed her complaint about the other matters through stages two and three of the complaints process.
8. I cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaints about the Council’s change of position regarding Mrs X’s suitability as a prospective Special Guardian. This is because it is about what happened during court proceedings and the law prevents us from considering such complaints.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the law prevents us from considering complaints about things that happened in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman