Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in his children’s case. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider his complaint via its complaints procedure whilst there are ongoing court proceedings on the case.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has refused to consider his complaint about its handling of his children’s case whilst the case is subject to ongoing family court proceedings.

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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))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complained to the Council about its handling of his children’s case which is currently subject to ongoing family court proceedings.
7. The Council told Mr X it would not respond to his complaint whilst the proceedings are ongoing as it could be prejudicial to the proceedings to do so. It advised Mr X to raise his concerns with his legal representative so that they can be raised to the court during the proceedings. It explained it will be able to provide Mr X with a response to his complaint once the proceedings have concluded. It signposted Mr X to this office if he was dissatisfied with its decision.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to respond to his complaint until the proceedings have concluded. This decision was made to ensure the proceedings, which take precedence over a complaint investigation, are not put at risk of being prejudiced by a concurrent complaint investigation. It is a decision the Council has discretion to make in line with the statutory guidance to local authority children’s services on the handling of complaints where there are ongoing proceedings.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider his complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman