Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the contents of the Council’s court ordered report and it not acting in line with a court order. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the contents of the Council’s court ordered report for ongoing family court proceedings. She also complains the Council has not provided full disclosure of its records as ordered by the court.

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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 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 and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Miss X complained to the Council about the matters set out in paragraph one, above.
9. The Council told Miss X it would not consider her complaint via its complaints procedure because the case was subject to ongoing court proceedings. It said it would be more appropriate for Miss X to raise her concerns to the court during the proceedings. It explained Miss X could ask the Council to consider any outstanding matters once the court proceedings have concluded.
10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint via its complaints procedure until the court proceedings have concluded. This 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 including court proceedings. This is to ensure the court proceedings are not put at risk of being prejudiced by a concurrent investigation.
11. We cannot investigate complaints about matters that are being, or have been, considered in court proceedings, or which could have been raised and considered during court proceedings. Such matters lie outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider them. This restriction also means we cannot consider complaints about evidence or reports the Council provides to the court or about the preparation of evidence or reports for the court. This is because the reports form part of the court proceedings and so we have no jurisdiction to investigate their preparation or content. We also cannot consider a complaint that the Council has breached a court order. That is a matter for the courts to consider and decide.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider her complaint until the ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman