Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the council’s involvement with Miss X’s family during family court proceedings. The law does not allow us to investigate matters that are subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Miss X said that she was treated unfairly by a social worker who was allocated to her children during court proceedings. She said this caused her unnecessary anxiety.
2. Miss X also said the council mislead her by telling her to raise her complaint after the court proceedings concluded.

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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))

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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. Miss X raised a complaint to the council about the social worker who was allocated to her children during family court proceedings.
9. The matters complained about included unhappiness with contact arrangements arranged by the social worker and their communication being unprofessional.
10. Because the matters Miss X complains about are related to the court proceedings, we cannot investigate the complaint for the reasons outlined in paragraph four.
11. As we cannot investigate the substantive matters of the complaint, we will not investigate the council’s handling of the complaint because it is not proportionate to do so.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because we cannot investigate matters which have been considered in court. Nor will we consider the council’s handling of the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman