Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s child protection involvement and actions in relation to the complainant’s family. This is because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s complaint response which explains it will not consider the matter until ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the Council’s child protection involvement with his family which has led to ongoing court proceedings.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We do not start an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X complained to the Council about its child protection involvement and actions in relation to his family. The matter is currently subject to ongoing court proceedings.
9. The Council told Mr X it would not consider his complaint via the complaints process until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded. It informed Mr X that if he remains dissatisfied once the proceedings have concluded he can resubmit his complaint to the Council.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is nothing further we could add to the Council’s response explaining it will not consider the matter via the complaints procedure until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded. There is no sign of fault in this approach which the Council has clearly explained.
11. If Mr X remains dissatisfied with the outcome of his complaint once it has completed the Council’s complaints procedure following the court proceedings then we can consider it. However, the law prevents us from considering matters that are being, or have been, considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. Also, if Mr X starts legal proceedings against the Council on this matter the law says we cannot investigate.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman