Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about matters related to Mr X’s child. The law prevents us considering the conduct of court proceedings. Mr X can reasonably take court action if he believes the Council has not provided court orders and if he wants changes to his child’s living or visiting arrangements.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the conduct of court proceedings and the outcome regarding his child’s living arrangements. Mr X states this has prevented him seeing his child and caused him significant emotional distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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))
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X states that the court proceedings were conducted unfairly, not all court orders were shared, and he was unable to appeal. The law prevents us from considering what happens in court. This includes the Council’s actions during court proceedings and information it provides to the court for consideration.
7. If Mr X believes the Council has not met its obligations to give him copies of court orders, he can reasonably raise that with the court. This point is closely linked to the matters that were for the court to decide. It is not appropriate for the Ombudsman to investigate it.
8. The decisions about where a child should live, and Mr X’s contact with his child, are ultimately matters for the court to decide. If Mr X wants to change those arrangements, he can apply to the courts to reconsider their decision.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because we have no power to consider matters related to court action. Mr X can apply to the courts if he believes the Council has not met its obligations regarding the court action and if he wants the decisions about his child changed.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman