Summary: We cannot investigate part of Mrs X’s complaint about the removal of her children in 2008 because the matters complained about were considered by a court. We will not investigate part of the complaint because it is late. We will not investigate the remainder because Mrs X could raise it as part of ongoing legal proceedings or raise the matter with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council:
1. unlawfully removed her children from her care in 2008;
2. failed to consider her complaint; and
3. shared her private information with a third party.
2. Mrs X said the matter caused her distress and frustration.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)
5. 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))
6. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
7. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection and data processing. 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

Removal of Mrs X’s children in 2008

10. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council removed her children from her care in 2008. The decision to remove the children was likely made by a court. The law says the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters considered by a court, and so we cannot investigate this matter.

Consideration of Mrs X’s complaint

11. Mrs X said she complained to the Council in 2020 about these matters.
12. In response to the Ombudsman’s enquiries the Council said its systems did not save information back further than 2021, so it could not say whether Mrs X complained at the time.
13. However, it said it was informed Mrs X had started legal action about the matters she complained about, and so it would not consider the complaint at this time anyway.
14. We will not investigate this matter. The complaint is late. If Mrs X did not receive a response in 2020, it was open to her to pursue the matter with the Ombudsman at the time. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman in August 2025. I can see no good reasons Mrs X could not complain sooner. Therefore, we will not consider any complaint about matters that happened before August 2024.
15. For any matters that happened after August 2024, the complaint issues are now likely to be considered by a court. Consequently, we will not investigate the primary issues Mrs X complained about.

Disclosure of personal information to a third party

16. Mrs X said the Council disclosed court documents to a third party without authorisation.
17. If Mrs X believes her personal data was shared without consent, it is open to her to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The ICO is better suited than the Ombudsman to consider this kind of complaint, and so we will not investigate this matter.
18. In addition, Mrs X could raise the matter with the courts as part of ongoing legal proceedings, so we would not investigate in any case.

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Final decision

19. We cannot investigate part of Mrs X’s complaint because the matters complained about were considered by a court. We will not investigate part because it is late. We will not investigate the remainder because Mrs X could raise it as part of ongoing legal proceedings or raise the matter with the ICO.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman