Halton Borough Council (24 015 416)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 Feb 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about where her grandchild is living. It is unlikely we could say any Council fault directly caused Z to be living with their father.
The complaint
- Miss X says the Council removed her grandchild, Z, from Miss Y’s, Z’s mother, without her consent or a court order. Miss X says Miss Y would like Z back living with her.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss Y and the Council’s reply to her complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss Y is the mother to Z. The Council says that in July 2024, following domestic issues, Z’s father used his parental rights and started caring for Z in his family home. Since then, Miss Y has visited Z at the father’s home.
- Miss X says Miss Y wants Z to live with her. The Council says this is a private dispute and Miss Y can apply to the Courts.
Analysis
- It is not the Council who has determined where Z lives. The father has legally consented to Z living with him. The Council cannot change this without a Court order and it has no grounds to currently apply for one. Miss X can apply to the Court for it to decide where Z should live. Our investigation is therefore unlikely to say that any Council fault has directly caused Z to be living with their father.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is unlikely we would say the Council’s fault has directly caused the injustice Miss X alleges, that Z is not living with her.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman