Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement with the complainant’s family. This is because the Council’s decision not to investigate the complaint until after court proceedings have concluded was not affected by fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about matters relating to the Council’s children’s services and its involvement with the care arrangements of his children.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
3. 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)
4. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

7. Mr X complained to the Council about how its children’s services have dealt with matters relating to the care of his children. Mr X says the Council ignored information, failed to properly communicate with him and failed to provide him with information it holds about him. The Council said it could not investigate Mr X’s complaint because pre-proceedings had started, which a complaint investigation could prejudice.
8. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the Council’s decision not to investigate his complaint was not affected by fault and it clearly explained its decision to Mr X. Mr X can ask the Council to investigate his complaint once proceedings have concluded.
9. If Mr X remains dissatisfied with the Council’s final response once it has considered his complaint, then we will be able to assess it to see if it is a matter we can and should investigate. However, the law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that are being, or have been, considered in court. We have no discretion to do so. Furthermore, Mr X’s complaint about the Council failing to provide him with copies of information it holds about him would be better considered by the Information Commissioner.

Back to top

Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman