Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s children’s case. The law prevents us investigating matters that have been before the courts.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council’s children’s services was biased towards the mother of his children. He says the Council’s actions led to him losing his home and his children. He wants a thorough investigation into what happened. He wants to have his home and children back, and he wants the mother of his children to be punished.

Back to top

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 complaints about the provision or management of social housing by a council acting as a registered social housing provider. (Local Government Act 1974, paragraph 5A schedule 5, as amended)
4. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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)
6. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
7. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

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

Back to top

My assessment

10. Part of Mr X’s complaint is about events of 2020, when he says he was evicted from his council house. This matter would now be too late for us to consider, and in any event is about the Council’s role as a registered social housing provider. It is open to Mr X to contact the Housing Ombudsman about this matter, as it is outside our jurisdiction.
11. More recently, the Council has been involved in assessing allegations Mr X made relating to his ex-partner. The Council’s assessment contributed to private proceedings between Mr X and his ex-partner. The law prevents us from investigating what happened in court, which includes the content of any reports the Council submits to court.
12. We can also decide not to investigate matters that could have been raised as part of related court proceedings. All matters Mr X complains about, for example his concerns about bias by the social workers, were issues it would have been reasonable to raise in court. The consequence of these matters was the court’s decision, which itself is outside our jurisdiction. We have no power to change it.
13. It is for the courts, not the Ombudsman, to make decisions about the children’s welfare. It is also not the role of the Ombudsman to seek to punish members of the public. We could not achieve the outcomes Mr X seeks, in any event.

Back to top

Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is about matters that have been considered in court.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman