Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council has handled safeguarding concerns relating to his child since 2014. Some of Mr X’s concerns are too old for us to investigate. The law prevents us from investigating any of Mr X’s concerns the court has already considered. We also will not consider the Council’s refusal to consider Mr X’s complaints when we are not investigating the substantive issues.

The complaint

1. Mr X has complained the Council has failed to protect his child while in their mother’s care or act on safeguarding concerns from him and others. He believes the Council has ignored neglect and emotional harm caused to his child while in their mother’s care since 2014. More recently (since March 2024), Mr X says the Council could have done more to prevent harm to his child while in their mother’s care. He believes the Council should have taken action to stop his child’s contact with their mother, which would have avoided the need for him to take the matter back to court.
2. Mr X also complains about the Council’s refusal to consider his complaints about its handling since the court proceedings ended in late 2025. He believes his concerns about the Council’s poor handling can be looked at separately to the matters the court considered. He wants the Council to apologise, learn from its mistakes in his child’s case and provide financial redress for the distress caused to him and his child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 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))
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
7. Where a complainant has exercised their right of appeal, reference or review or remedy before a tribunal, a right of appeal to a minister or a remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction. This is the case even if the appeal may not provide or have provided a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH [1999] ELR 314)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

9. Mr X complains the Council has failed to take appropriate action to safeguard his child while in their mother’s care since 2014. This includes Mr X’s belief the Council has treated him less favourably when concerns have been raised about his care of his child.
10. We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of the events they are complaining about. Mr X has been aware of these issues since 2014. Any concerns Mr X has continued to have about the Council’s handling that have been occurring for more than a decade prior to him bringing his complaint to us are now late. I have seen no good reasons why Mr X could not have brought his concerns to us sooner, so I will not exercise discretion to investigate any of Mr X’s concerns that relate to events more than 12 months prior to his complaint to us in March 2025.
11. Any arrangements about care and contact of children is a private matter between the people who have parental responsibility. Where those people cannot agree on those arrangements, only the court has the power to intervene and make decisions about what arrangements would be in the child’s best interests and on any matters of dispute.
12. Mr X has exercised his parental rights and taken his concerns about the care of his child to court. The court has decided arrangements for the child to remain in Mr X’s care and not to have direct contact with their mother. The Council has explained to Mr X that it cannot investigate and respond to his complaints about matters that have been the subject of court proceedings.
13. Like the Council, the law prevents us from becoming involved in matters that have been the subject of court proceedings. Because of this, we will not investigate anything that has happened from March 2024 until late 2025 when the court made decisions about the care arrangements for Mr X’s child.
14. Since court proceedings ended, Mr X has asked the Council to consider his complaints about its handling of his child’s case. The Council has declined to consider Mr X’s concerns under its complaints procedure because the matters have already been considered by the court.
15. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin)). Because of this, we will not investigate Mr X’s concerns about the Council’s refusal to investigate and respond to complaints under its complaint procedure now that private law proceedings about his child have ended.

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Final decision

16. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because:

• some of his concerns are too old for us to investigate;
• the law prevents us from investigating anything the courts have already considered; and,
• we will not investigate the Council’s complaint handling where we cannot investigate the substantive issues.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman