The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaints about issues which are not separable from Court proceedings. We will not investigate their other complaints as Social Work England is better placed, and there is nothing significant extra we could add to other elements.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mr and Mrs X, complain about children services actions.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) 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: we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mr and Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
I considered Mr and Mrs X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.
My assessment
We previously considered and decided a complaint from Mr and Mrs X in June 2021 about the care arrangements for their grandchild. This current complaint includes allegations about the care and contact arrangements. We cannot consider any aspect of these complaints which have happened since our previous decision, as the Court is considering the child’s care arrangements.
Mr and Mrs X complaint includes the content of a report the Council provided the Court about the child’s welfare and circumstances. This is called a section seven report.
As part of private law proceedings involving children, the court may ask the Council to produce a section seven report. The court will then consider the report as part of its decision making. Because a section seven report forms part of court proceedings, we cannot investigate their preparation or content.
Mr and Mrs X complain about the professional conduct of social workers involved in the case. We cannot look at their conduct which is intertwined with the Court proceedings or the issues the Court is considering. Mr and Mrs X have confirmed the Court is considering their grandchildren’s contact with them. The Council’s actions and views on their contact with their grandchildren is unlikely to be separable from the Court proceedings.
Our role is to investigate the actions of the Council as a corporate body, not to hold a single officer accountable. If Mr and Mrs X have concerns about the professionalism or integrity of an individual social worker, it is reasonable to expect them to report their concerns to their professional body, Social Work England.
Mr and Mrs X say the Council has not replied to all the correspondence they have sent it. The Council established a managed mailbox system in July 2021 it said because of the excessive demands on time their mail was placing. It replied to their complaint about the lack of Council responses in February 2022. It says it cascaded to the relevant person information Mr and Mrs X provided. It accepts replies were not provided to every piece of correspondence.
It is unlikely our investigation on this part of their complaint, would achieve more than this explanation. We are unlikely to find fault in the Council not replying to every correspondence it receives. It has to use its resources efficiently and proportionately.
Final decision
We will not and cannot investigate their complaint. This is because we cannot investigate reports which form part of legal proceedings, there is another body better placed to consider the social worker’s professional conduct and there is nothing further we could add to the correspondence complaint.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman