Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s attempts to place his children into care. This is because, the issues Mr X raises cannot be separated from matters that were decided in court, so we have no remit to investigate.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s legal attempts to place his children in to care after their mother became ill. He says the Council ignored his request to care for them and he was denied from having contact with them except in a contact centre.
2. Mr X advises that, the Council’s legal case was not successful, and he now cares for the children. But he says the Council’s actions caused great stress and anxiety to him and his children.
3. Mr X would like social workers arrested and fired for not considering him as suitable to look after his children. He would also like to be compensated for the Council denying him his parental rights and ignoring his role as his children’s next of kin.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. We have no powers over matters connected to court proceedings because the courts are a higher authority than the Ombudsman.

9. This applies even if the outcome Mr X is now seeking - which is a financial remedy - has not been to court. 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))
10. To explain further, we cannot separately investigate council officer actions without considering their consequences. In this case, all the effect of the Council’s actions were in court proceedings and as evidence. I note also that Mr X took out his own private law proceedings to gain custody of his children. So, we have no remit to investigate.

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Final decision

11. I cannot investigate. This is because the matters raised have already been decided in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman