Summary: The Ombudsman will not and cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about inaccurate documents. We cannot investigate documents used in legal proceedings and the Information Commissioners Office is better placed to consider if the Council needs to amend its records.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about the content of reports given to a Court and the Council’s general approach to a child protection case.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner 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)
4. 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)
5. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information Mr X provided with his complaint. Mr X had the opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.

Back to top

What I found

7. A child in Mr X’s family became the subject of a child protection case. Mr X says the Council applied to the Courts for a Care Order. He says within those proceedings the Council provided the Court with documents which contained inaccurate information about him. He also says the Council holds that inaccurate information within its documentation.
8. Ms X disagrees with the way the Council approached the family’s situation and the alternatives it considered for the child’s care arrangements.

Analysis

9. We cannot investigate the content of reports provided to a Court which it relied on to reach its decision.
10. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to use the Council’s Data Protection Act (DPA) right to rectification procedure to ask the Council to correct documents he believes are inaccurate. If he is unhappy with the Council’s response to his request, it is reasonable to expect Mr X to apply to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Parliament set up the ICO to decide DPA disputes and they are better placed than us to do so.
11. We would usually expect a complaint about the Council’s approach to a child’s care to be made by a parent or carer. There are no reasons this should not apply in this complaint.

Back to top

Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not and cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate documents provided to Court proceedings and the ICO is better placed to consider a complaint about inaccurate documents.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman