Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement in Mr X’s child’s case. We have no power in law to investigate matters that have been considered in court. It was reasonable for Mr X to raise all concerns as part of the related court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council:
• failed to properly investigate a safeguarding concern relating to his child;
• destroyed evidence; and
• submitted serious allegations in court proceedings without evidence.
2. Mr X said this caused significant distress to him and his child. He said the Council’s actions influenced ongoing family court proceedings, resulting in reduced contact with his child. He wanted the Council to apologise, review its decision-making and remove unsubstantiated allegations from his child’s file. He also wanted it to make service improvements and pay him compensation.

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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 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))
6. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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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. Mr X’s complaint includes the content of the Council’s representations to court as part of family court proceedings. While those proceedings were between Mr X and the child’s mother, the law prevents us from investigating the Council’s actions in gathering evidence to submit to the court. We cannot investigate this part of Mr X’s complaint.
10. Mr X’s complaint is also about the Council’s response to a safeguarding concern he raised. He says the Council failed to properly investigate the concern and destroyed evidence. While the court’s role was not to decide whether there was fault by the Council, it was reasonable for Mr X to raise these concerns as part of the proceedings. This is because his concerns were directly relevant to the court’s decision about his child’s best interests. We will not investigate a complaint about the matter instead.
11. We normally expect people to refer complaints about data protection to the Information Commissioner. Mr X indicates he has already contacted the Information Commissioner in relation to evidence allegedly being destroyed. We will not consider the matter as well.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it concerns matters that have been considered in court, and would have been reasonable for Mr X to raise as part of the family court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman