London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (19 014 866)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 31 Jan 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr A’s complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to ongoing court proceedings. Such matters lie outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider them. We cannot do so.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr A, complains about the Council’s actions in relation to ongoing court proceedings.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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
- I considered the information Mr A provided in his complaint. I also considered information provided by the Council.
What I found
- Mr A complains about the Council’s actions in court proceedings. He says the Council has: withheld relevant information from the court; intimidated witnesses; perverted the course of justice; committed legal malpractice and recklessness during family court proceedings and public care proceedings; failed to comply with a court order and provided fabricated evidence to the court.
- Mr A says his daughter, and her brother, have been placed at a greater risk of harm due to the Council’s misconduct.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint as it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from considering matters that are, or have been, considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. This restriction also applies to documents or reports that are provided for the court.
- We cannot consider Mr A’s complaint that the Council has perverted the course of justice. Complaints about alleged criminal activity lie outside our remit. Allegations of crime are for the police to investigate and the courts to decide.
Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman