Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to backdate financial support for the whole period during which the complainant has had care of her granddaughter. This is because the matter has been considered in Court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss X, complains that the Council has refused to backdate financial support to cover the whole period during which her granddaughter has been in her care.

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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 law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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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. Miss X has care of her granddaughter under a Special Guardianship Order. The child has been in her care since February 2019. She has asked the Council to backdate financial support to cover the whole period, or at least to July 2019 when she asked the Council for support.
8. The Council has backdated payments to July 2021. It holds that care of the child before that date constituted a private family arrangement.
9. The documents Miss X has provided shows that the Court considered whether payments should be backdated in 2022. This means that, by law, the Ombudsman cannot consider the matter. We cannot therefore investigate Miss X’s complaint.
10. The Court’s order directs the Council to backdate payments akin to the fostering allowance to July 2019. The Council’s response to Miss X’s complaint shows that it has refused to do so. I note that the Court has explicitly said that, in these circumstances, Miss X may refer the matter back directly to the Judge.
11. Miss X further complains that the Council has refused to escalate her complaint beyond the first stage of its complaint procedure. As the substantive matter falls outside our jurisdiction, it is not a good use of public resources to consider how the Council has addressed the complaint, and we will not do so.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it concerns a matter which has been considered in Court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman