Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the contents of a social worker’s assessment report. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider his complaint until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the contents of a social worker’s assessment report. He says the report contains numerous inaccuracies, omissions and falsehoods which could put him and his child at risk of significant harm and irreparably damage his character.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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)

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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. Mr X complained to the Council about the matter set out in paragraph one, above.
9. The Council told Mr X it could not consider his complaint via its complaints procedure at present because the case is subject to ongoing court proceedings. It advised Mr X to raise his concerns to his legal representative so that they can be addressed during the court proceedings. It explained he could resubmit his complaint for consideration once the proceedings have concluded.
10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider his complaint while the case is subject to ongoing court proceedings. This is to ensure the proceedings, which must take precedence over a complaint investigation, are not put at risk of being prejudiced by a concurrent investigation. It is a decision the Council has discretion to make, in line with the statutory guidance to local authority childrens services on the handling of complaints where there are ongoing proceedings.
11. As set out in the Council’s response Mr X can resubmit his complaint to the Council to consider once the proceedings have concluded. It will then be able to assess whether there are any residual matters it can consider.
12. We cannot investigate complaints about matters which are being, or have been, considered in court proceedings, or which could have been raised and considered in court. Such matters lie outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider them.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to investigate his complaint until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman