Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about child protection decisions taken by the Council concerning Mr X and his wife after their child suffered injuries. We are prevented from doing so by a legal bar brought into play by the matter having been subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr X said the Council removed his child from his care for several months and restricted his contact. He said this happened even though he was not present in the family home at the time the child suffered injuries. He said this was also despite his wife offering to leave the family home, and despite medical opinion confirming the couple’s accounts. He wanted the Council to confirm a worker had lied in court and to compensate him. He said he had missed significant time with his child and his mental health had suffered.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), 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))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X supplied the Council’s letters to him, which confirmed it accepted neither he nor his wife had caused the injuries to their child. The letters also confirmed there had been a court hearing and that a judge had made the finding the Council now accepted. The letters confirmed the Council accepted some social workers’ caseloads were still too high following an Ofsted inspection.
9. Despite what is written above, we cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. The court hearing that found Mr X and his wife bore no responsibility for the injuries to their child triggered a legal bar that prevents us investigating these matters. It is not possible to separate the matters complained of from matters that were or could reasonably have been raised in court. I note and understand that Mr X wants the Council to provide explanations of its actions, but this is not a separable matter.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because a legal bar prevents us investigating what happened in court or any matters that were or could reasonably have been mentioned there.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman