The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions concerning Ms X’s child. The matters complained of are not separable from decisions about where the child should live that have been taken by a court.
The complaint
Ms X said the Council caused trauma to her child to fit the court’s narrative. She said a social worker went against a written agreement and visited her child without another worker present. She said the social worker told Ms X that a photograph of a step-child she gave her could not be used on social media. She said the social worker used the distressed reaction Ms X experienced against her in court. She said her child was then placed with a person the Council believed had harmed the child.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
It is clear from the complaint correspondence that the issue at the heart of the complaint is the question of who Ms X’s child should live with. The matters Ms X complains of concern how the social worker went about forming her opinions. It is likely that these opinions would have been given in court, either in writing via reports, or verbally.
Any change to where the child lives and who the child sees could only be made by a court.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because the matters complained of are not separable from matters that have been of could have been before a court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman