Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s children’s case. The matters he complains about are inextricably linked to court proceedings. We cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks, and it is open to him to appeal the court’s decisions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s involvement in his children’s case, which he says should have remained a private matter. He says the Council was biased towards the children’s mother and failed to communicate properly with him or work speedily during the court process. He says the Council’s reports contained misinformation about him, and that it did not respond properly to his complaints. He says the Council’s actions have caused him to be unable to see his children. He wants the social worker removed from the case, for it to retract its reports prepared for court and to reconsider its findings based on the correct information. He wants to be able to care for his children.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by a council concerning a matter which is outside our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
5. 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), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Mr X says he was initially involved in private proceedings with the mother of his children, but the Council became involved at a later date. He complains about its actions as part of that process and says the Council’s involvement biased the outcome of proceedings against him.
9. The law prevents us from investigating the Council’s involvement in court proceedings. This includes the contents of any reports it wrote for court and its decision to become involved in the first place.
10. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by a council concerning a matter which is outside our jurisdiction. All matters included in Mr X’s complaint are inextricably linked to the court proceedings.
11. We cannot influence the court’s decisions and it is open to Mr X to appeal these with legal support. We could not achieve the outcomes Mr X seeks, as only the court can make a decision about his children’s residence and contact with him.
12. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is about court proceedings, which the law prevents us from investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman