Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr A’s complaints that the Council made representations about him in court and that the judge failed to verify the accusations against him. Mr A’s complaints are about what happened in court and the Ombudsman cannot investigate court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr A complains the Council presented to a court false information about him which it had not properly investigated. Mr A also says the judge failed to verify the accusations made by the Council about him.
2. Mr A says these accusations have now been used against him by the Council in a separate court case about his access to his children, and he is also unable to see his nieces.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

5. As part of my assessment I have:
• considered the complaint provided by Mr A;
• issued a draft decision, inviting Mr A to reply; and
• considered Mr A’s response to the draft decision

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What I found

6. Mr A lived with his sister Ms B and her children X and Y. Ms B was involved with her ex-partner in a custody dispute over the couple’s children.
7. Mr A says that as part of the court custody proceedings, the Council presented as fact false information from Ms B’s former partner. He says Council officers put this information before the court without a proper investigation of the evidence. Mr A also says the way the judge dealt with the matter in court was wrong. He says they failed to verify any of the information presented by the Council.
8. Mr A also says a social worker has now used the accusations made in his sister’s court proceedings to stop him from seeing his children without meeting him or making an assessment.
9. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr A’s complaints. This is because his complaints are about events which happened during court proceedings. The Ombudsman has no legal power to pursue such complaints.
10. The Ombudsman also cannot overturn or change the findings of a court. Only another court can do this. If Mr A or Ms B want to change any legal decision regarding custody or access to X and Y, they would need to go back to court to do this. They may wish to seek independent legal advice before taking that route.
11. Also, the decision made by the social workers to stop Mr A from accessing his children would have been confirmed by the court. Therefore, Mr A would have had the opportunity to argue the lack of assessment in court. If not, it would be reasonable for Mr A to apply to court for a child arrangement order to ensure he can see his children.

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Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr A’s complaints. This is because the Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about what has happened in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman