Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with Miss X’s children. The law prevents us from investigating matters that have been before the courts, and we could not achieve the outcome Miss X seeks.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the report the Council prepared for court proceedings between her and her children’s father. She also complains the Council has not properly investigated safeguarding concerns she has raised. She says this put her at a detriment in the court proceedings and the children are at risk. She wants the Council to amend its court report and properly investigate the concerns she has raised about the children’s father.

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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 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))
4. 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

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

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My assessment

7. Miss X complained about several issues related to private proceedings between her and the father of her children. Her complaints included:
• The content of the Council’s section 7 report to court;
• Disagreement about the children being enrolled in school in the father’s area, which Miss X says prejudiced proceedings;
• The Council’s response to safeguarding concerns raised by Miss X and others both during and after proceedings; and
• Council officers’ conduct and inappropriate statements.
8. We cannot investigate matters that have been considered by the courts. This includes the Council’s representations to the court and its officers’ conduct relating to those proceedings. All of the above points are inextricably linked to the proceedings.
9. New safeguarding concerns raised after proceedings would potentially be separable, however the Council advised Miss X the more recent safeguarding concerns were a repeat of the issues that had been considered as part of the court process.
10. Should Miss X wish to raise new arguments or concerns about the information previously presented to the courts, this would need to be via new court proceedings. We cannot achieve the outcomes Miss X seeks, as only the courts can decide:
• Whether to order a new Section 7 report to be completed by the Council, given Miss X’s concerns about the previous report’s content;
• What is in Miss X’s children’s best interests in terms of where they live and with whom; and
• Contact arrangements between the children and their parents.
11. Miss X’s complaint is also about delays and other issues with the complaints process. 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

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is about matters that are inextricably linked to court proceedings. We cannot achieve the outcome Miss X seeks, and it is open to her to make a new application for the courts to reconsider the circumstances around her children’s case.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman