Summary: We will not investigate Miss X complaint about children services’ actions. We cannot investigate issues in Court proceedings. We will not investigate children services’ actions from over 13 years ago. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to have asked for a review of her complaints. And Social Work England is more suitable to consider her complaints about social workers’ conduct.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about children services’ actions.

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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 cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
4. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
5. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X complains about issues related to children services:
1. Miss X says the Council failed to support her as a child. This is about events 23 to 13 years ago. We should not investigate this complaint as it is about events more than 12 months old. And there are no strong enough reasons why we should use our discretion to do so. I am not confident there is a realistic chance of reaching a sound, fair, and meaningful decision, or that Miss X could not have complained sooner.
2. Miss X says the Council failed to support her as a parent in the last year and this has meant a Court decided her child should not live with her. We cannot investigate issues which a Court decided, including what caused its decision. We also cannot investigate an officer’s behaviour in the Court proceedings, or the evidence given to a Court, including what reports said.
3. Miss X made three formal complaints since August 2023. The Council gave three ‘stage one’ replies. In each it told Miss X that if she remained unhappy she could ask for a ‘stage two’ review of her complaint. She has not done so for any of them. It is reasonable to expect her to have done so.
4. Miss X complains about a social worker’s comments to her. The Ombudsman cannot investigate whether social workers are meeting their professional standards of conduct. Social Work England is a better body to consider these complaints.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot investigate issues involved in Court proceedings. And we will not investigate children services’ actions towards her over 13 years ago. It is reasonable to expect her to have asked for a review of her complaints and Social Work England is in a better position to consider her complaints about social workers’ conduct.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman