London Borough of Hounslow (19 016 516)
Category : Children's care services > Looked after children
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 16 Jan 2020
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the information the Council gave a Court. We cannot investigate legal proceedings.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, says the Council provided a court with inaccurate and unfair information.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Mr X provided with this complaint. Mr X had the opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.
What I found
- Mr X says, the Council’s children services team, since we closed his last complaint to us in April 2019, provided a Court with inaccurate information. He says this is unfair on him and means his child does not have the care arrangements he wants.
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. We cannot investigate the accuracy, or preparation of, evidence and information the Council provided a Court which it then relies on.
Final decision
- The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate the Council’s role in legal proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman