Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in its child protection involvement with her family. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Miss X, complains about the Council’s actions in its child protection involvement with her family. Miss X says inaccurate information led to her children being put on a child protection plan and the Council acted before investigating the facts. Miss X says officers have lied and been unprofessional and she has been discriminated against due to her mental health condition and race. The case is now subject to ongoing court proceedings which Miss X says could have been avoided if the Council had responded to her complaint earlier.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council has told Miss X it will not consider her complaint via its complaints procedure whilst the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings. It says the issues raised in Miss X’s complaint will be dealt with during the proceedings. It explained its decision was made in line with its complaints policy which states it will not consider matters relating to court proceedings via its complaints procedure.
7. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings. The Council has made this decision in line with its complaints policy and the relevant statutory guidance to local authorities on the handling of complaints where there are ongoing proceedings. This is to ensure the proceedings, which must take precedence over a complaint investigation, are not prejudiced by a concurrent investigation. It will be open to Miss X to ask the Council whether it will consider any residual matters which were not and could not have been raised and considered during the proceedings once the court proceedings have concluded.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman