Summary: We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint about the actions of the Council’s children’s and housing services. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about the start of court action or what happened in court, and the earlier matters relate too closely to the court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complained the Council used inaccurate information in documents for court.
2. Miss Y said this led to her child being wrongly taken from her care and being relocated, causing distress and reputational damage.
3. Miss Y wants the Council to acknowledge its mistakes, carry out work the court ordered it to do, and return her child to her care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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)
6. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by Miss Y and the Council.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. We cannot investigate most of Miss Y’s complaint about the actions of the Council’s children’s and housing services. This is because the primary issues complained about are currently being considered by the courts.
10. The Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to consider the content of court reports or any associated issues that happened during court proceedings. Miss Y could raise any disagreements she may have with the court directly.
11. Miss Y complained about a period before court proceedings commenced; however, the substantive issues such as where the child will live and any safeguarding issues are being considered by the courts. Therefore, we will not investigate Miss Y’s complaints about what happened before court proceedings started because these matters are too closely related to the later legal proceedings.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about court action or what happened in court, and the earlier matters relate too closely to the court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman