North Yorkshire County Council (19 004 724)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Aug 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s refusal to address a complaint he has made which relates to a court case involving a child. The Ombudsman will not investigate the complaint because court proceedings fall outside our jurisdiction and the Council has confirmed it will consider the complaint once the legal proceedings are completed.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I refer to as Mr X, complains the Council has refused to open and investigate a complaint he has made about its service and staff and that they have not acted in accordance with a judge’s instructions in connection with legal proceedings involving a child.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- In considering the complaint I reviewed the information provided by Mr X and the Council. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.
What I found
- Mr X is involved in legal proceedings which involve the welfare of a child.
- He asked the Council to investigate his complaint that its service and staff are acting dishonestly and in a biased manner and that they are not acting in accordance with directions given by a judge in connection with the child the subject of the court case.
- The Council responded by explaining that as the issues he had raised are currently being considered by the Courts, it would not be appropriate for it to consider them through the complaint process at this time. It did confirm, however, that it would be happy to consider his complaint at the completion of the court proceedings if he still felt his concerns had not been considered.
Assessment
- The restriction highlighted at paragraph 2 of this statement applies to Mr X’s complaint because by law court proceedings are excluded from the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and we have no discretion on this point.
- The Council has confirmed Mr X can go back to it with any outstanding concerns he has once the proceedings are completed.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because court proceedings fall outside our jurisdiction and the Council has confirmed it will consider Mr X’s complaint once the legal proceedings are completed.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman