The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate X’s complaint about how the Council has dealt with matters concerning child protection issues regarding their child. The law prevents us from investigating matters subject to court proceedings and there is insufficient evidence of fault with the Council’s decision not to investigate any separable matters until after proceedings have concluded.
The complaint
X complains about the actions of the Council’s children’s services in regard to child protection matters concerning their children.
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 not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council has been asked to prepare a Section 7 report as part of proceedings in the family court. The Council has refused to consider X’s complaint until after these proceedings have concluded.
I cannot investigate X’s complaint about the preparation or contents of the Council’s Section 7 report. We cannot investigate complaints about what happens in court. This includes the preparation and contents of reports provided by councils during proceedings.
I will not investigate X’s complaint about other matters at this time. This is because there is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision not to investigate their complaint whilst court proceedings are in progress. Regulation 8 of The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 says councils can refuse to consider a complaint if to do so could prejudice concurrent court proceedings.
X can resubmit their complaint once the proceedings have concluded. We will not consider the issues raised within the complaint until the complaints process has concluded.
Final decision
We will not investigate X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating what happens in court and because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council has dealt with their complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman