Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s children’s case. Mr X could have complained to us sooner. The courts have also considered the substantive matters and we have no power to change court decisions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council wrongly stopped contact between him and his children in 2021, against a court order. He said this meant his case in private proceedings was impacted and his relationship with his children came to an end, in breach of his human rights. He wanted the Council to compensate him and write to the court to rectify its representations.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X says in 2021 the Council advised his children’s mother to stop their contact with him, despite a court order being in place stating he should have contact. He says private proceedings commenced sometime after he had complained to the Council, and that he therefore did not bring the matter to us until those proceedings had completed.
8. This complaint is late. Mr X could have contacted us at the time of events, and we could have decided whether to investigate, taking into account any proceedings and whether they were separable to the issues he complained about. There is not a good reason for the delay, and we will not consider the matter now.
9. In any event, the Council’s assessment would have been considered as part of the court proceedings. We do not have the power to investigate the contents of a council’s representations to court. We also would not generally investigate matters that we decide should have been raised as part of related proceedings. While the court’s role was not to consider whether the Council had acted with fault, Mr X’s concern about the Council’s actions was pertinent to the matters in court.
10. It was for the courts, not the Council or the Ombudsman, to decide what was in the children’s best interests. The courts made a decision, and we have no power to change that decision.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate @’s complaint because @

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman