Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about a court report because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court. We have no discretion to do so.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s court ordered section 7 report which it completed for her family court proceedings in 2024. Ms X says the report was biased, contained factual inaccuracies, presented a one-sided view of her situation and failed to reflect significant progress she had made as a parent. Key information was also omitted from the report.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Ms X complained to the Council about its section 7 court report in 2024.
8. The Council told Ms X it could not consider her complaint via its complaints procedure because the report had already been submitted to the court and it could be prejudicial to the ongoing proceedings to consider it. It advised Ms X to raise her concerns to her legal representative so that they could be considered by the court during the proceedings.
9. Ms X complained again to the Council about the report after the proceedings concluded. She said her legal representative had not ensured her concerns were fully addressed during the court proceedings.
10. The Council told Ms X it could not consider her concerns about the report via its complaints process because it had been considered by the judge during the court proceedings. It signposted Ms X to this office if she remained dissatisfied with its response.
11. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court. We have no discretion to do so. The court has considered the report as part of its decision making. Because section 7 reports form part of court proceedings, we have no jurisdiction to investigate complaints about their preparation or content. Any dissatisfaction with the contents of the report should have been raised to the court during the proceedings. I note Ms X says her legal representative did not do so. However, this does not mean that we are now able to consider it. The law says we cannot do so.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman