Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X complaint about the decision to remove her children from her care. The law says we cannot investigate matters that have been considered by the Court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s decision to take her children into care. She said the children were harmed by their foster carers. She wants her children returned to her care.

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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)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to take her children into care. That is because the law says we cannot investigate what happened in court. The children were removed as part of care proceedings.
8. The Council has confirmed care proceedings are ongoing. However, it will consider Miss X’s complaint about the care of her children through the statutory children’s complaints procedure, once the care proceedings are complete. The statutory children’s complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough and prompt response to their concerns. It is appropriate for Miss X to exhaust this process before we consider her complaint.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because we have no jurisdiction to consider matters that have been before the Court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman