Summary: The Ombudsman previously recommended the Council respond to Mrs X’s stage two statutory children’s complaint within 65 working days. We opened this complaint to investigate the Council’s apparent failure to comply with our recommendations. We have ended this investigation because Mrs X has begun court action against the Council.

The complaint

1. The Ombudsman previously recommended the Council respond to Mrs X’s complaint at stage two of the statutory children’s complaint within 65 working days. We opened this complaint to consider the Council’s apparent failure to comply with our recommendations.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. Court action includes judicial review. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered:
• all the information Mrs X provided and discussed the complaint with her;
• the Council’s comments about the complaint and the supporting documents it provided; and
• the relevant law and guidance.
4. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. As part of a previous investigation (22 014 992), we found Mrs X had made a complaint to the Council about a social care assessment for her child, which it had not responded to properly. The Council agreed to complete a stage two investigation under the statutory children’s complaints procedure within one month of the date of the final decision, and to complete the investigation within 65 working days of starting it. This would have been by mid-December 2023.
6. The Council did not send us evidence it had complied with our recommendations so we began an investigation into the apparent non-compliance in April 2024.
7. However, during the course of this investigation, it became apparent Mrs X sought a judicial review in December 2023. She resubmitted her application for judicial review in March 2024 and the Council issued its defence in April 2024. Mrs X’s judicial review claim relates, in part, to the social care assessment for her child and the Council’s complaints handling.

Findings

8. We cannot investigate whether the Council complied with our recommendation to respond to Mrs X’s complaint at stage two of the statutory children’s complaints procedure. This is because by law, we cannot investigate a matter where someone has started court action about it. Mrs X has sought a judicial review of the Council’s actions, including its complaints handling. The judicial review also covers the issue at the centre of Mrs X’s complaint to the Council; the social care assessment.

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Final decision

9. I have ended my investigation. We cannot investigate a matter which is subject to court action.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman