The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about whether the Council’s children services team should have spoken directly with a child. The Courts are now considering the child’s care and we cannot investigate the same issues it is considering.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, says the Council should have spoken to her grandchild, D.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X says that she reported concerns about D and their sibling in May 2021. She says the Council should have spoken to D directly. The Council has accepted it would have been good practice for its children service’s officers to speak to both siblings.
Mrs X has confirmed they are waiting for the Courts to reconsider the children’s care arrangements. She says D’s sibling B has no contact with their maternal family. She would like contact re-established.
We cannot consider the same issues a Court is considering. We cannot achieve the remedy Mrs X seeks about sorting out or enforcing contact. The Court has the power to order the Council to carry out an assessment if it believes it is necessary.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because we cannot consider the same issues as the Courts.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman