Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about his children’s care while the Council cared for them and whether an Adoption Order should be revoked. We cannot investigate issues and events which could have been or were part of Court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, wants an Adoption and Placement Order revoked. He says the Council failed to care for his children properly.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about action taken by or on behalf of any local policing body in connection with the investigation or prevention of crime. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, Section 26, paragraph 2 as amended)
4. 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 do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X says the Courts made an Adoption Order for two of his children in 2022. He says this and a Placement Order should be revoked. We cannot do that. Only the Courts can change a Court order. We cannot investigate the information the Council gave the Court in those proceedings or how it acted within those proceedings.
8. Mr X believes the Council failed to properly care for his children in 2021/22. Mr X says he continually complained during that period and beyond. He says he also complained to the Police but they took no action.
9. We cannot investigate the Police response to his complaints that his children had been harmed.
10. There were Court proceedings during and after the period Mr X complains of. The Court has wide powers to order reports on the children’s care. At any point, it was reasonable to expect Mr X to ask the Court to order reports on his children’s care if he believed the Council was failing to care for them properly.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot investigate events and issues which Court proceedings have or could have covered.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman