Liverpool City Council (25 008 731)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 06 Oct 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the contents of the Council’s social work report about his family. This is because a court considered the content of the report, and the law says we cannot investigate.
The complaint
- Mr X complained about the accuracy of the Council’s social work risk assessment completed in early 2025 about him and his family. Mr X said the report was biased and factually inaccurate.
- Mr X said the matter caused him distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. The Council completed the risk assessment in early 2025. Later in 2025 Mr X started private court proceedings in relation to his children. The courts instructed the Council to complete a section 7 report.
- In his complaint to the Ombudsman, Mr X explained the court “discredited” parts of the report he complained about.
- Although the earlier report was completed before the court proceedings started, the court considered the information it contained.
- The law says we cannot investigate the preparation, collation, and analysis of evidence, including reports written by social workers or other officers, for court proceedings. This includes the use of a report written previously, in subsequent court proceedings.
- Because the court considered the information contained in the early 2025 report, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate this complaint now.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the courts have already considered the contents of the report he complained about.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman