Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s children’s services. This is because the issues raised have formed part of court proceedings. Social Work England are better placed to consider complaints about the conduct of social workers. Other matters are premature as they have not been through the Council’s complaints procedure.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about the actions of the Council’s children’s services in relation to the care of his children. Mr X says a social worker provided inaccurate information to the courts and acted inappropriately by hugging his child. Mr X also complained to the Ombudsman that the Council has failed to follow his children’s safety plan by not visiting his children or holding monthly meetings.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by a council concerning a matter which is outside our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the council knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the council of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5))
6. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. In January 2023, Mr X complained to the Council about the conduct of the social worker allocated to his family. Mr X said that the social worker had hugged his child which Mr X said was inappropriate. The Council said it could not investigate Mr X’s complaint as court proceedings to determine the care arrangements for his children were underway. It said it may be able to investigate the issues raised once proceedings had concluded.
10. After court proceedings concluded, Mr X contacted the Council again. He complained that the allocated social worker had provided inaccurate information which had been considered in court.
11. I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council’s social worker recorded inaccurate information about he and his children in their assessment. This is because this information has been considered during court proceedings which places it outside of our jurisdiction.
12. Mr X’s complaint about the social worker hugging his child was also considered during court proceedings and is also therefore out of our jurisdiction meaning we cannot investigate it. Even if it had not been considered in court, we would not investigate this matter, this is because the professional conduct of social workers are matters that should be raised with Social Work England.
13. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to adhere to his children’s safety plan. This is because Mr X has not yet complained to the Council about this. He will need to raise this with the Council making it clear exactly what his concerns are. If he is dissatisfied with the Council’s response, he can raise a new complaint with the Ombudsman and ask us to consider the matter.
14. Finally, I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council considered his complaints about these matters. This is because it is not a good use of public funds to investigate complaint handling when we are not investigating the issues raised in those complaints.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the issues he raises have formed part of court proceedings, are better dealt with by Social Work England or are premature.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman