The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s children’s services dealt with matters relating to the care of the complainants’ children. This is because there is no evidence of fault with the Council’s decision not to progress the complaint until after legal proceedings have concluded.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains about how the Council’s children’s services has dealt with her and her children.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) 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
Miss X has raised several complaints with the Council about its children’s services involvement with her and her children. These complaints include a claim from Miss X that a Section 7 report completed by the Council contained inaccurate information.
Since Miss X raised her complaints, the Council has commenced care proceedings in relation to Miss X’s children. The Council has therefore made the decision not to progress Miss X’s complaints as they consider that any investigation by the Council may prejudice the court proceedings. It has told Miss X that she can resubmit her complaint once the court proceedings have concluded.
There is no fault in the Council saying it will not investigate these matters until the court case has finished. The Ombudsman will also not investigate either until these matters are resolved.
Once proceedings have finished, Miss X may complain again to the Council. If Mrs X remains dissatisfied with the Council’s final response, she may ask the Ombudsman to investigate. However, we would not be able to investigate anything that has been subject to court proceedings, including the contents of section 7 reports, due to restrictions detailed in paragraph 3.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no evidence of fault.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman