Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr F’s complaint about the way the Council has responded to concerns about his daughter’s welfare. Most of the issues he raises have already been considered by a court and are therefore outside our jurisdiction. It is unlikely we would find fault with the Council’s handling of later events.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr F, complains that the Council has not responded properly to concerns about his daughter’s welfare.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault, or
• it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have considered Mr F’s complaints to the Council and its responses.
5. Mr F has had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. Mr F’s young daughter (D) lives most of the time with her mother although Mr F has regular contact. He says that he regularly sees bruising on his daughter and believes that she is suffering abuse at her mother’s home.
7. Contact arrangements for D and her parents were recently decided in the courts. The Council produced a report for the court which concluded that any bruising on D was typical of accidental bruising on a child of her age.
8. The court offered Mr F the opportunity of a Fact Finding hearing to look into his concerns that D was being deliberately harmed. He decided not to pursue this option.
9. However, since the court case, Mr F has continued to report bruising and other concerns about D’s welfare to the Council. He says that five other professional groups have made referrals to the Council. The Council says that no professionals have any concerns about D’s welfare and their only involvement has been in response to Mr F’s concerns, not because they have concerns of their own.
10. The Council has written to Mr F and said that it does not intend to take further action on his concerns. It is satisfied that there is no risk to D and has advised Mr F that he might cause harm to D’s emotional wellbeing if he continues to make allegations which it believes are unfounded.

Assessment

11. Any earlier concerns about D’s wellbeing have been addressed already by the court when it made its decisions about where D should live and what contact she should have with her parents. The Ombudsman cannot investigate matters which have already been considered by court.
12. I note that, if not satisfied by the evidence presented in court, Mr F had the opportunity to request a Finding of Fact hearing which could have looked into his concerns and made a finding about any welfare issues relating to D. The Ombudsman could not do this: his role is to look at how the Council responded to Mr F’s welfare concerns, not to investigate them himself. He has no power to make a finding about what is best for D.
13. Since the court case, Mr F has continued to report his concerns. The Council has clearly considered this but does not share his views that D is at risk. It is satisfied that the situation remains as it was at the time of the court case. I have not seen anything to suggest that the Council has not responded properly to Mr F’s concerns since the court case. I consider it unlikely that an investigation by the Ombudsman would find fault with the Council.

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Final decision

14. I have decided that the Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because most of it relates to a matter which has already been considered by a court and which is therefore outside our jurisdiction. There is no sign of fault in the Council’s handling of later events.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman