The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.
The complaint
The complainant, Miss X, complains about the actions of the social worker allocated to a child protection case for a child currently in her care.
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) We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X complained to the Council about the actions of the social worker allocated to the case of a child in her care. The case is subject to ongoing court proceedings.
The Council told Miss X it would not consider her complaint now. This is because it considered it could be prejudicial to the ongoing court proceedings to do so. It said Miss X should raise her concerns to the court during the proceedings and that she can resubmit her complaint to the Council once the proceedings have concluded.
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings. As set out in the Council’s response, this is to ensure the court proceedings, which must take precedence over any complaint investigation, are not prejudiced by a concurrent complaint investigation. This is a decision the Council is entitled to make. Its approach is in line with statutory guidance to local authorities on the handling of children’s services complaints where there are ongoing proceedings. This gives it discretion to decide whether or not to investigate where it could potentially prejudice ongoing proceedings.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint until the court proceedings have concluded.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman