Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to serious safeguarding concerns about his daughter. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to investigate his complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has failed to protect his daughter from harm despite serious safeguarding concerns being raised. He also complains about the Council’s discriminatory dismissal of his concerns compared to its response when it received an anonymous report raising the same concerns.

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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 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 response to safeguarding concerns raised in relation to his daughter, as set out above.
7. The Council told Mr X it could not currently consider his complaint because the case is subject to ongoing court proceedings. It advised Mr X to raise his concerns to the court during the proceedings. It told Mr X he could resubmit his complaint for consideration once the proceedings have concluded.
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 consider his complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings. 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 whilst there are ongoing proceedings . This is to ensure the court proceedings are not put at risk of being prejudiced by a concurrent complaint investigation. As set out in the Council’s response, it will be open to Mr X to resubmit his complaint to the Council once the proceedings have ended to see whether there are any residual matters it will consider.
9. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that are being, or have been, considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.

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Final decision

10. 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 until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded. It is a decision it is entitled to make.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman