Bury Metropolitan Borough Council (21 003 165)

Category : Children's care services > Child protection

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 22 Jul 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council allegedly fabricating mental health reports. This is because part of the complaint relates to court proceedings and is out for our jurisdiction, and we cannot achieve the outcomes that the complainant seeks.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Ms K, says that the Council:
    • Fabricated mental health concerns in a Section 37 report for the family court;
    • Has refused carry out actions requested by Ms K; and
    • Has refused to continue to correspond on the points raised by Ms K.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  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. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by Ms K.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. Ms K says that the Council fabricated evidence about her mental health and used it to influence the outcome of proceedings in the family court. She wants her children returned to her care. We cannot investigate matters that have formed part of court proceedings or achieve the outcome Ms K wants.
  2. Ms K further complains that the Council has not carried out actions she asked it to take, or responded to her comments. We will not investigate this complaint as the Council is clear the requests and comments relate to other bodies and matters it is not involved in, or cannot comment on. We cannot achieve Ms K’s desired outcome of the Council addressing these matters.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Ms K’s complaint because part of it is out of our jurisdiction, and we cannot achieve her desired outcomes.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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