Summary: On the evidence currently available, we will not investigate this complaint about the Council preventing Mr X from having access to this adult daughter. This is because it has been previously considered in court. It is reasonable for Mr X to return to court to seek a remedy.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council is preventing him to have contact with his adult daughter. Mr X says this has affected him physically and mentally.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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

4. I considered the information Mr X provided with his complaint. I also considered the information the Council provided. Mr X had the opportunity to comment on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X’s daughter is under the care of Adult Social Services. The Court of Protection made an order confirming contact arrangements for Mr X and his daughter. This was due to safeguarding concerns raised by the Council. Following further investigations from Court of Protection, Mr X said the allegations against him were dismissed. He said Court of Protection decided he should be given weekly access to his daughter. Mr X did start to have weekly access to his daughter however after a short period of time, this stopped.

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Analysis

6. The Court of protection has decided on Mr X’s contact arrangements with his daughter. We cannot investigate matters that have been before a court.
7. If Mr X believes the Council is not complying with the court order or the court order needs to be amended, it is reasonable for him to return to court to seek a remedy. Only the court can achieve the outcome Mr X is seeking.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matter has been previously considered by the court. It is reasonable for Mr X to return to court to seek a remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman