Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to private court proceedings for her son because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating matters that have, or could have, been raised and considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about the Council’s actions in relation to private court proceedings for her son. Miss X says the Council failed to listen to her, but listened to her son’s father, who then lied to them. Miss X also complains the Council failed to take her safeguarding concerns seriously.

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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 the information Miss X provided. I also considered the complaint correspondence which we requested from the Council. I sent Miss X a draft of my decision and considered her comments on it.

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What I found

5. Miss X complains about the Council’s actions and the information it provided to the court in private court proceedings. These resulted in a care order being issued in favour of her son’s father. Miss X says the Council did not listen to her, but listened to her son’s father, who lied to get the outcome he wanted. Miss X says she only recently became aware the social worker lied in her court report.
6. Miss X also complains the Council failed to take her safeguarding concerns about her son seriously.
7. The Council told Miss X it cannot consider complaints about these matters as they have been considered and decided in court. It says it considered the safeguarding concern Miss X raised but found no evidence of harm to her son. It advised Miss X that, as the court decided her son’s living arrangements, she could consider seeking legal advice about whether she could return the matter to court to seek a variation to the care order. It is not a matter the Council can change.

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Final decision

8. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the crux of the complaint has been considered in court proceedings. The law prevents us from considering such matters and we have no discretion to do so. This restriction also applies to reports which have been considered in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman