Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about children services actions. His complaints are inextricably linked with, or part of, Court proceedings.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, says the Council’s children services team has been unfair to him, produced an inaccurate and unfair report for Court and failed to properly investigate his safeguarding allegations.

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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. We have the power to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
4. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by 'maladministration' and 'service failure'. I have used the word 'fault' to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mr X provided with his complaint. Mr X had an opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

Background

6. Mr X says he was alleged to have harmed a step child in 2017. The Court imposed a remand condition during criminal proceedings. Mr X says the Court found him not guilty and started an investigation into perverting the Court’s justice.
7. On release from remand, the Council held a strategy meeting. Mr X says this was unnecessary. Mr X then became involved in Court proceedings about his children’s care. As part of those proceedings the Court ordered the Council provide a report on the children’s care, circumstances, and welfare. This is a section seven report. Mr X says the report is unfair and inaccurate. He says the Council has failed to properly investigate his allegations about the children’s mother’s care of them.

Analysis

8. We cannot investigate the content, production or service of Council produced section seven reports or any reports a Court ordered the Council produce.
9. As part of private law care arrangement proceedings, the Court must consider the children’s overall welfare. It can order the Council carry out a child protection investigation or consider specific allegations. This means we cannot investigate any allegations Mr X makes about the Council not investigating his allegations about the children’s care. It is reasonable to expect him to tell the Court and ask the Court to make the relevant order.
10. Given the circumstances, it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision to hold a strategy meeting.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not and cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate issues which are covered within Court proceedings or which are inextricably linked to them.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman