Manchester City Council (25 028 165)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 23 Sep 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council allegedly failing to act on Mr X’s child protection concerns. Mr X has commenced court action against the Council, so the law prevents us also investigating. It is not proportionate for us to investigate complaint-handling in isolation.
The complaint
- Mr X complained the Council:
- failed to investigate his safeguarding concerns relating to his children; and
- refused to investigate his complaint.
- Mr X said this caused distress, and uncertainty about his children’s safety. He wanted the Council to progress his complaint, provide evidence of child protection decisions and actions, apologise and pay compensation.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- We cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
- The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X has applied to the courts for permission to judicially review the Council’s decisions and actions in relation to child protection concerns he raised. This means we have no power in law to also investigate a complaint about the matter.
- It is not proportionate for us to investigate complaint-handling in isolation, given we cannot investigate the substantive matter Mr X’s complaint related to.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because he has commenced court action about the matter. It is not proportionate for us to investigate complaint-handling in isolation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman