The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with the complainant’s family which led to her daughter being taken into care. This is because the law prevents us from investigating matters which have been considered in court. Also, we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant wants.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, complained about the Council’s involvement with her family. Ms X’s daughter was taken into care, and she is unhappy with the placement and her level of contact. Ms X wants her daughter returned to her care.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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) The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will not start an investigation into Ms X’s complaint. This is because we cannot consider complaints about matters decided in court or where it is reasonable for the person to take the matter to court. These exclusions apply to Mr X’s complaint, so it is not one we can consider.
The living arrangements for Ms X’s daughter were decided by the Court. If Ms X wants to challenge the arrangements and the level of contact with her daughter, then she can do so in court. It is reasonable for her to do this and can give her the outcome she wants. The complaint is therefore outside our jurisdiction, Also, we have no powers to return Ms X’s daughter to her custody and so we cannot achieve the outcome she wants.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is outside our jurisdiction and we cannot achieve the outcome she wants.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman