The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s children’s services and its involvement with the complainant’s family. This is because it concerns what happened during court proceedings. Complaints about the conduct of social workers are better considered by Social Work England.
The complaint
Miss X complains about information that the Council’s children’s services provided to the courts during proceedings to determine the care arrangements of her child. Miss X says the Council’s actions impacted the outcome of court proceedings and calls into question the conduct of the social workers involved in the case.
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 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 continue an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) 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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about information that the Council’s children’s services provided during court proceedings. This is because the law does not allow us to investigate complaints about what happened in court, this includes the contents of any assessment or reports that councils present to the courts during proceedings.
If Miss X has concerns about the professionalism or integrity of an individual social worker, it is reasonable to expect her to report her concerns to their professional body, Social Work England.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is about what happened in court proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman