Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s section 7 report for court because the law says we cannot investigate matters considered by a court. We will not consider the rest of Mr X’s complaints because they are late.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the involvement of the Council’s children’s services with his family, including:
1. the content and accuracy of a social worker’s section 7 report for court;
2. the content and accuracy of an earlier report completed in October 2023;
3. the conduct of the social worker.
2. Mr X said the matter caused him distress, frustration, and time and trouble to resolve.

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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 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)
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. We cannot investigate part of Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s section 7 report it produced for court. This is because the courts ordered the report and considered it as part of court proceedings. The law says the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters considered by the courts as explained at point 4 of this decision.
9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaints about the content of an earlier social work report or how the Council worked with him via its children’s services.
10. This is because Mr X was aware of the matters complained about in October 2023. Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman until May 2025. These complaints are therefore more than 12 months old and are late.
11. The law says we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. I have seen no good reasons Mr X could not have complained to the Ombudsman sooner. Therefore, we will not investigate these complaints.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate part of Mr X’s complaint because the primary issue was considered by a court. We will not investigate the remainder because the complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman