The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr & Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to investigate their complaint until ongoing court proceedings have concluded. This is because the is no sign of fault in the Council’s approach and an investigation by this office would not be able to add to the response and explanation already provided by the council.
The complaint
The complainants, whom I shall call Mr & Mrs X, complain about the Council’s decision not to consider their complaint until ongoing court proceedings have concluded.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We do not start an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainants.
I considered the Council’s Children’s Services Procedures Manual which is published on its website.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr & Mrs X complained to the Council about negative statements it made in a viability assessment for them to be able to care for their great-granddaughter.
Mr & Mrs X say the Council’s comments were made without evidence and were based on hearsay and speculation.
The case is currently being considered in care proceedings.
The Council told Mr & Mrs X it could not consider their complaint until the court proceedings have concluded. This is in order to avoid any conflict between the two processes. It invited Mr & Mrs X to contact the Council with their complaint within a year of the court proceedings concluding.
Whilst I acknowledge Mr & Mrs X’s wish for the Council to consider their complaint now, there is no sign of fault in the Council’s approach. It will consider the complaint once the court has made its decision. This is the usual process where there are ongoing court proceedings and is set out in its Children’s Services Procedures Manual. This is in order to avoid the risk of prejudicing the concurrent proceedings.
If Mr & Mrs X remain dissatisfied with the Council’s final decision once it has completed the complaints procedure we can assess the complaint. However, the law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that are being, or have been, considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. This restriction also applies to reports provided to the court for the proceedings.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr & Mrs X’s complaint because an investigation by us would not be able to add to the explanation provided by the Council and there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider the complaint until the court proceedings have concluded. It is a decision it is entitled to make and it has explained why it will proceed in this way.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman