Surrey County Council (19 011 648)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 17 Dec 2019
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr J’s complaint about the Council’s assessment of the risk he presents to his grandchildren, and the arrangements recommended to reduce this risk, because this was considered in court.
The complaint
- Mr J complains about the Council’s assessment of the risk he presents to his grandchildren, and the arrangements recommended to reduce this risk. He also complains about the Council’s handling of his complaint.
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)
- The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered the information Mr J provided with his and given him the opportunity to comment on our draft decision.
What I found
- Mr J’s grandchildren were the subjects of court proceedings during their parents’ divorce. The court asked the Council to prepare a report to help with its decision-making. Amongst other things, the court asked the Council to consider whether Mrs J was a suitable supervisor of contact between Mr J and the grandchildren.
- The Council, in its report, concluded she was not. This assessment forms the basis of Mr J’s complaint. But because it was included in a report submitted to the court, it is not something the law allows us to investigate.
- And the courts have established that we cannot investigate a complaint about how the Council responded to a complaint, if we cannot investigate the complaint itself. So we cannot investigate Mr J’s complaint.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it is about the content of a report prepared for court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman