Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s children’s services officers. This is because the Council is not at fault in declining to consider the complaint while legal proceedings are ongoing, and we cannot investigate matters relating to reports completed for a court of law.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Ms X, complains that the Council’s children’s services officers have been at fault in the course of their engagement with her family.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
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.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X’s daughter has been the subject of an assessment by the Council, resulting in an Initial Child Protection Conference. The Conference took the view that the threshold for child protection action had been met. Ms X argues that the actions of the Council’s officers have been characterised by racial and disability discrimination. She argues that the conduct and outcome of the Conference was flawed, and disputes that the threshold for child protection action was met. Ms X wants the Ombudsman to order an immediate review of the Council’s actions.
7. In addition, Ms X complains about a Section 37 report completed at the direction of the Court when she did not consent to action under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989. She says the report should not have been requested, should not have been completed by a social worker about whom she had complained, and was based on incomplete information.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. The Council has declined to make a substantive response to the complaints she has made about children’s services while private law proceedings are ongoing. This is a reasonable position, and it is within its rights to do so. The Council has said Ms X may complain again once the legal proceedings have concluded, so it is not the case that she is being denied access to the complaints procedure. There are no grounds for the Ombudsman to criticise the stance the Council has taken and we will not do so.
9. The law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating matters relating to the Section 37 report. This is because it has been ordered by the Court for use in legal proceedings. This places all matters relating to its production and content outside our jurisdiction and we cannot consider them. There is no discretion available to us on this point.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council is not at fault in declining to consider it while legal proceedings are ongoing, and we cannot investigate matters relating to the Section 7 report.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman