Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the care of a child. The law prevents us from investigating matters that have been subject to court action.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that the Council:
1. Failed to comply with a child arrangement order from the court.
2. Failed to provide him with assessments and stated that it had disclosed an assessment to him, when this was not the case.
3. Claimed that the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) had not made any referrals to the Council, but Mr X later found out that CAFCASS had made two referrals.
4. Ignored Mr X’s safeguarding concerns for his child, which has left the child having regular contact with family members with a history of abuse.
5. Said that he had requested personal information about the child’s mother, when this was not true.

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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 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 Mr X.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained that the Council had failed to comply with a child arrangement order from the court, which he says has left his child in regular contact with relatives with a history of abuse.
8. I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions on points a) to d) of the complaint, as these matters were either raised in court or could reasonably have been raised in court. The law prevents us from investigating matters that have been subject to court action. Any failure by the Council to comply with the court order or provide the information that Mr X needs would be a matter for the court to consider.
9. I have considered the other elements of Mr X’s complaint, but they are closely linked to matters subject to court action or could reasonably have been raised in court and so they cannot be investigated.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is about matters that have been subject to court action or are closely linked to such action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman