Wigan woman alleges the council 'bullied' her daughter into agreeing to foster care terms

A woman’s allegation that the council ‘bullied’ her daughter into making decisions about foster care cannot be investigated because of court proceedings, a watchdog has ruled.

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) received a complaint from a Wigan woman on behalf of her adult daughter, whose children were in foster care at the time of the complaint in October 2020.

In the complaint, the lady, referred to as Mrs X, raised several allegations against the council, including bullying from the town hall, and that a social worker made false accusations against her daughter (Ms Y) in a parenting assessment report.

The report said: “Mrs X complains on behalf of her adult daughter, Ms Y, about the Council’s actions and decisions in relation to Ms Y’s children who are currently in foster care. Mrs X says the Council bullied Ms Y into agreeing to section 20 accommodation for her children. The case is currently being considered in ongoing court proceedings. Mrs X says there are also issues with the court ordered contact arrangements.

“Mrs X says the social worker’s parenting assessment, which has been provided to the court, is full of mistakes. She says the Council has accused Ms Y of things that are not true, and Ms Y has been made to look like a bad mother; which is not the case.

“The Council has declined to investigate these matters via its complaints procedure due to the ongoing court proceedings, but did respond to Mrs X’s concerns relating to the childrens’ current placements.”

The ombudsman concluded: “We cannot investigate the crux of this complaint. This is because it is about matters which are subject to ongoing court proceedings. The law prevents us from considering matters that are being, or have been, considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.

“This restriction also applies to reports that are being considered by the court. Any dissatisfaction with the contents of the court report would need to be raised by Ms Y, or her legal representative, in court so the court can consider it before it makes a decision. This is not a matter the Ombudsman can consider. The same restriction applies to any issues with the court ordered contact arrangements.

“In relation to the matters the Council was able to provide a response on, it is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman would be able to add significantly to the response already provided by the Council. As such, there would be no worthwhile outcome to be achieved by an investigation.”

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