Lincolnshire County Council (24 023 331)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 21 May 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the adequacy of the Council’s reports for court. The law says we cannot investigate anything that forms part of court proceedings including information and reports produced for the court. We would expect Mr X to raise any concerns about these issues in court.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the Council’s involvement with his children. Mr X said the Council failed to properly assess the risks his children face in the care of their mother and about the adequacy of reports created for court.
- Mr X said the matter caused him distress and frustration.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because Mr X initiated court proceedings due to the concerns he has for his children. The court directed the Council to make a report.
- The Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate matters considered at court. This includes the preparation, content, and issuance of any reports made by the Council. If Mr X was dissatisfied with the social worker’s report, it was open to him to raise the matter with the court. The court could then decide what action to take.
- The consequence of Mr X’s complaint about the adequacy of the social worker’s report is that his children are unsafe. The court will decide about this matter, and therefore the Ombudsman cannot investigate.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it relates to matters before the courts, and the law says we cannot investigate.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman