Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint the Council provided misleading and biased reports to the court in relation to his child. An absolute and permanent bar prevents us from considering anything the Council has produced for the court. It would be reasonable for Mr X to report any current safeguarding concerns to the council where his child now lives or to return to court if he wants to challenge the existing care arrangements.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains Council Social Workers gave misleading and biased information about him to the court in relation to his child. He believes the Council has ignored his safeguarding concerns and failed to protect his child while they are in their mother’s care. He wants the Council to investigate the conduct of the staff involved and take disciplinary action.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
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)
5. When we find fault, we can recommend remedies for significant personal injustice, or to prevent future injustice, caused by that fault. We look at organisational fault, not individual professional competence. Decisions about individual’s fitness to practise or work are for the organisations concerned, and for professional regulators, not the Ombudsman. (Local Government Act 1974, s26(1) and s26A(1) as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. The Council explained to Mr X that it cannot consider his complaints about information it has produced for court proceedings. It has explained it would be reasonable for Mr X to have raised any issues he had with the information the Council submitted to the court with it at the time. The Council said the events complained of happened more than a year ago and Mr X’s child no longer lives in the Council’s area.
8. I agree with the Council’s advice to Mr X that he should consider seeking independent legal advice if he wishes to challenge the existing care and custody arrangements for his child. Neither we nor the Council have the power to intervene in such matters which can only be determined by court.
9. Mr X has complained about the actions of Social Workers involved in his child’s case. Our role is to look into the Council’s actions as a corporate body, rather than to investigate individual employees. If Mr X has concerns about the professionalism or conduct of an individual social worker, he can report his concerns to their professional body, Social Work England.
10. Moreover, Mr X expressed his wish for the Council to take disciplinary action against the Social Workers. We would not be able to achieve this outcome as any disciplinary actions between the Council and its employees are outside our jurisdiction.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating anything that has been or is the subject of court proceedings. We also cannot achieve the outcome he wants for the Council to take disciplinary action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman