Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of her safeguarding concerns about her child. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s actions during care proceedings involving her child. She says the Council unfairly judged and mispresented her and did not take her safeguarding concerns about her child seriously.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. We also 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

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The Council told Ms X it would not consider her complaint through its complaint’s procedure. This is because the issues raised in the complaint fell within the family court proceedings. It advised her to discuss her concerns with her legal representatives.
8. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law does not allow us to investigate complaints about matters that have been subject to court proceedings. This restriction applies to the Council’s involvement in the proceedings and evidence it provided to the court, or which were considered by the court in the proceedings. The Council’s decision making and actions on this case will have been considered by the court in making its decision and form part of the proceedings. We cannot consider them.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the matters were considered, or could have been considered, in Court. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about such matters. We have no discretion to do so.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman