Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to start care proceeding or information the Council provided during proceedings. This is because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about the start of court proceedings or what happens in court.

The complaint

1. X complains the Council commenced care proceedings based on inaccurate information and provided to evidence to support its claims when court proceedings started.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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Final decision

6. We cannot investigate X’s complaint because the law prevents us from investigating the start or court proceedings or what happens in court. This includes the preparation and contents of reports that Council’s present during proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman