Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker. These matters are not separable from matters Mr X has or had a right to raise during an ongoing court process. We cannot investigate matters that formed part of a court process.

The complaint

1. Mr X said a social worker was incompetent and biased in favour of his child’s grandparent. He said she failed to tell him when she was appointed, and lied about this to the Children and Family Court Advisory and support Service (Cafcass). He said the social worker lied in court about a DNA test he took. He said she also failed to keep an appointment. He said her recommendations to the judge will have a negative impact on his child’s future.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. We have the power to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
6. 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)
7. 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 any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. Although Mr X said he is not seeking to overturn the decision of a court, the matters complained of are not separable from decisions about the care of his child. The attitude and actions of the social worker relate to her credibility as a witness in court action.
11. A missed appointment without advance notice might be a separable matter. And it would be a matter of fault if it occurred. But the injustice that would cause would not be sufficient on its own to warrant investigation.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:

• The matters complained of are not separable from matters where he has a right to go to court it would be reasonable to use;
• We cannot investigate matters that have been or could reasonably have been raised in court;
• We cannot investigate what happened in court; and
• The only matter that is potentially separable from the court process is one where there would not be sufficient injustice to warrant investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman