The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about matters relating to the Council’s child protection involvement with her family. This is because there is nothing we could add to the response provided by the Council which explains it cannot consider her complaint until the court proceedings have concluded.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about matters relating to the Council’s child protection involvement with her family. Miss X also complains the Council has breached a prohibited steps order. The case is currently being considered in ongoing court 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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We do not start an investigation if we decide we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 complained to the Council about its actions in relation to its child protection involvement with Miss X and her family.
The Council told Miss X it cannot currently consider her complaint. It has placed it on hold because the case is being considered in ongoing court proceedings. It explained its complaints procedure specifically excludes matters which will be considered in court. The Council says it will contact Miss X once the court proceedings have concluded, at which point it will be able to progress her complaint through its complaints procedure.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is nothing further we could add to the response the Council has provided explaining the court proceedings need to conclude before it can consider her complaint via its complaints procedure. There is no sign of fault in this approach, which the Council has clearly explained.
If Miss X remains dissatisfied with the Council’s final response once it has considered her substantive complaint then we will be able to assess it to see if it is a matter we can and should investigate. However, the law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that are being, or have been, considered in court. We have no discretion to do so. This restriction also applies to reports submitted to the court during proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman