The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in its child protection involvement with her family. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings.
The complaint
The complainant, Miss X, complains about the Council’s actions in its child protection involvement with her family. The case is subject to ongoing care proceedings.
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 or continue 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 and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has told Miss X it will not consider her complaint now whilst the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings as it could prejudice the ongoing proceedings to do so. It has advised Miss X that she can resubmit her complaint to the Council for consideration 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 the matter is being considered in ongoing court proceedings. The Council has made this decision in line with the statutory guidance to local authority children’s services on the handling of complaints where there are concurrent proceedings. This is to ensure the court proceedings, which must take precedence over a complaint investigation, are not prejudiced by a concurrent complaint investigation.
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 whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman