The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms H’s complaint about a dispute over the Council’s actions towards her adult daughter because we cannot investigate the start or conduct of court action, and the Court is best placed to resolve the matters in dispute and decide on the arrangements, so we could achieve nothing worthwhile.
The complaint
Ms H says the Council has failed properly to provide education care and support for her daughter, Ms J, who is now an adult, including not carrying out annual reviews or assessing Ms J’s needs properly. Ms H says it has instead harassed and threatened Ms H and caused her significant distress and anxiety, and badly affected her physical and mental health.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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, section 26(8) and Schedule 5, paragraph 1, as amended) We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6) 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
Ms H and the Council disagree about what was or is in Ms J’s best interests, including the extent to which she can control the arrangements in her life.
The Council has started action the Court of Protection which is to “explore the restrictions on [Ms J’s] liberty in the context of her needs and caring arrangements, and to address any differences of opinion that have arisen or may arise about [Ms J’s] education and other provision”.
We cannot investigate the Council’s decision to begin court action. The matters at the heart of Ms H’s complaint or closely related to it are now before the Court of Protection which will decide what should happen. It would serve no purpose for us to investigate separately because we could not decide the disputed matters as the Court can.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms H’s complaint because we cannot investigate the start or conduct of court action, and the Court is best placed to resolve the matters in dispute and decide on arrangements for Ms J so we could achieve nothing worthwhile.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman