Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the conduct of a social worker and reports they produced for the Court. This is because the complaint is outside our jurisdiction with no discretion to investigate.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains about the conduct of a council social worker. She is unhappy about reports the social worker produced for court proceedings and which have been discussed in court. Ms X says the reports are inaccurate.

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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 have the power to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered Ms X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information she provided. I also gave Ms X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before issuing a final decision on her complaint.

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What I found

6. Under certain circumstances a court may ask a council to provide reports about the welfare of a child. Such reports are for use in court. They are not the property of the Council and the Ombudsman cannot consider their content or any potential fault in how they were produced. The actions of the Council’s social worker are intrinsically linked to the contents of the reports at the heart of this complaint. If Ms X was unhappy with the content of the reports, then she should have challenged them in court. The exceptions at paragraphs 3 and 4 apply to Ms X’s complaint and it is therefore outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

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Final decision

7. Subject to any comments Ms X might make, my view is the Ombudsman cannot investigate her complaint. This is because the matter complained about is outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman