Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how the Council and other bodies dealt with matters concerning the care of his child. Mr X’s complaint about the actions of the Council is made late and is about what happened in court. We have no powers to investigate the actions of the police or his child’s school.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about how the Council, the police, a school and the courts have dealt with matters concerning the care of his child.

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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 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. We cannot investigate the actions of bodies such as schools or the police. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34(1), as amended)
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

9. The care arrangements for Mr X’s child are subject to an order issued by the courts in 2023. The Council provided the court with assessments during proceedings leading to the final order being issued. The Council ended its involvement with Mr X’s family in March 2023. Mr X says he raised a new safeguarding concern in September 2024.
10. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions up to the case being closed in March 2023. This is because these matters have been subject to court proceedings and the law prevents us from investigating what happened in court, including the preparation and contents of assessments provided to the courts by the Council.
11. Even if we could separate some actions of the Council from the court proceedings, we would not investigate them. This is because the issues raised happened too long ago and I see no good reason why Mr X could not have complained to the Ombudsman sooner.
12. Mr X has asked us to investigate the actions of his child’s school and the police. We have no jurisdiction to investigate bodies such as schools and the police.
13. The Council told Mr X that it is willing to consider recent issues but when he was asked to clarify his complaint, he repeated his concerns about the Council’s actions up to March 2023. I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the actions of the Council from the last 12 months. This is because these issues are premature, and Mr X will first need to raise this via the Council’s complaints procedure.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because his complaint about the actions of the Council is made late and is about what happened in court. We have no powers to investigate the actions of the police or his child’s school.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman