The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about her child being removed from her care and an adoption order being made because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been subject to, and decided in, court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.
The complaint
The complainant, Ms X, complains her child has been adopted following care proceedings. She has had no contact with her child for 4 years. Ms X would like the adoption order to be annulled.
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 do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) 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 complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complains an adoption order was granted for her child following care proceedings. She would like the adoption order to be annulled.
We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is about matters that have been considered and decided in court proceedings. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been decided in court. We have no discretion to do so. Any challenge to the court’s decision would need to be returned to the court.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider it. The law says we cannot do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman