Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of matters involving Mrs X’s child. The law prevents us from investigating anything that has been the subject of court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the health and welfare of her child since the Council removed them from her care. She also complains the Council has reduced the number of contact hours she has with her child, without court approval. Mrs X wants the Council to provide information about her child’s health and additional contact time so she and her family can spend time with her child.

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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. 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, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Council has responded to Mrs X’s complaints about its handling since it removed her child from her care under stage one of the statutory complaint procedure for children’s social care. It has explained it cannot consider concerns Mrs X might have about matters that have been the subject of care proceedings in court. This includes the amount of contact hours Mrs X has with her child and their welfare.
8. The law prevents us from investigating anything that has happened in court, including what information councils provide during those proceedings. This means that like the Council, we cannot investigate Mrs X’s concerns about care and contact arrangements for her child.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it relates to matters that have been subject to court proceedings. Such matters fall outside our jurisdiction to investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman