Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with Mr X’s family, during family court proceedings. The law does not allow us to investigate matters that are subject to court proceedings. Nor will we investigate the remaining matters, because Mr X could raise his additional concerns in court, and there is another body better placed to consider data protection issues.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about Council social work staff involved with his family during family court proceedings. Mr X said they have submitted falsified documents to family court. Mr X also complained the Council shared information he provided to a third party without his knowledge.
2. Mr X also said he raised multiple complaints, but the Council has not taken action.
3. Mr X said this has caused him extreme emotional and financial difficulties.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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)
6. 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, or where there is another body better placed to consider this complaint (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

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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 complained about the conduct of social work staff involved with his family because of family court proceedings. Mr X said the staff used opinions during the proceedings instead of relying on facts.
10. Because Mr X complains about matters related to the court proceedings, we cannot investigate the complaint for the reasons outlined in paragraph five.
11. Mr X also complained the Council submitted falsified documents to family court which they have done to picture him negatively. I believe it was reasonable to expect Mr X to have raised these concerns in court, given the matters are closely linked and therefore we will not investigate.
12. Mr X’s complaint about the Council sharing information provided by him with a third party is an alleged breach of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) laws. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the body responsible for upholding data protection rights including those set out in GDPR. Therefore, we will not investigate as the ICO are better placed to consider Mr X’s complaint about this aspect.
13. As we are not investigating the substantive matters, 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

14. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the law does not allow us to investigate matters that are subject to court proceedings. We will not investigate the remainder of Mr X’s complaint for the reasons I have outlined at paragraph 11 and 12.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman