Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement with Mr X’s family. The matters complained about were either considered by a court which the law says we cannot consider or are closely linked to matters that have been or could have been raised during court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council did not keep him updated or invite him to participate in decision making regarding his children. He said this resulted in a court order.
2. He said the Council communicated poorly and it resulted in delays in the complaints process. He also said the Council did not process his Subject Access Request (SAR) properly.
3. Mr X said the Council failed in its duty of care to his children and it has had an impact on his mental health. He wants the Council to be accountable and social workers to face disciplinary action.

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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))
7. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended.)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. We cannot investigate this complaint. The court considered the content of the Council’s report and the process the Council followed. Therefore, this is not within our jurisdiction.
11. Other parts of Mr X’s complaint are related to matters which either have been or could have been raised in court. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to have raise his concerns as part of the court proceedings. Therefore, we will not investigate.
12. Mr X complained the Council did not process his SAR request properly. The Council apologised for the delay. If Mr X remains unhappy, this would be a matter for the ICO.
13. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we cannot with the substantive issue. Therefore, we will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s complaint handling.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matters complained about were either considered by a court which the law says we cannot consider or are closely linked to matters that have been or could have been raised during court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman