Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s involvement with his family and the actions of a social worker linked to a Special Guardianship Order. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because it is reasonable for Mr X to raise his concerns in court, and we cannot consider complaints about ongoing court action.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the Council’s involvement with his family and the actions of a social worker linked to a Special Guardianship Order (SGO).

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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 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)
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 investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
6. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if they have a complaint about data protection. 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

7. I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also considered information from the Council and gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.

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What I found

8. Mr X has complained to the Council about its involvement with his family and the actions of a social worker. Mr X says the social worker is guilty of “contempt of court” and has breached data protection legislation. Mr X is unhappy the social worker has continued to work on an SGO. Mr X says he has withdrawn his consent for this. The Council has said it will not deal with Mr X’s concerns under its complaint process because of ongoing court proceedings. It has said the social worker is following the court’s directions and timescale. It has said Mr X can raise any concerns he has about the assessment in court.
9. The exceptions at paragraphs 3 and 4 apply to Mr X’s complaint. We cannot consider complaints where it is reasonable for a person to raise their concerns in court. I see no reason this does not apply here. We also have no jurisdiction to consider complaints when there are ongoing court proceedings. Also, the actions of the social worker and their report is intrinsically linked to the court proceedings. Because it is not possible to separate these issues, an investigation by the Ombudsman is not appropriate.
10. If Mr X believes a council officer has breached data protection legislation, he should complain to the ICO. It is the body set up by Parliament to consider such matters. It is therefore in a much better position than the Ombudsman to consider this part of Mr X’s complaint.

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Final decision

11. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because it is reasonable for Mr X to raise his concerns in court, and we cannot consider complaints about ongoing court action.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman