Summary: We cannot investigate Dr X’s complaint about a social worker’s court report because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court. We have no discretion to do so.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I call Dr X, complains about a social worker’s court report which has been considered in court proceedings. Dr X says the social worker omitted important information from the report about concerns she had raised and lied about her in the report. Dr X says the social worker’s biased report affected the court’s decision.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Dr X complained to the Council about a social worker’s court ordered report, as set out in paragraph one, above.
7. The Council told Dr X it would not consider her complaint because the report had been considered by the court and her complaint was not separable from matters considered in the court proceedings. It said Dr X could have been reasonably expected to have raised her concerns about the report to the court during the proceedings.
8. We cannot investigate this complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court. This restriction means we cannot consider complaints about evidence and reports that have been considered in court.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Dr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and the law says we cannot consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman