Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council (19 019 631)

Category : Children's care services > Other

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 31 Mar 2020

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about information the Council has provided to the court in ongoing court proceedings because it lies outside his jurisdiction. The law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating matters that have been, or are being, considered in court.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about information the Council has provided in ongoing court proceedings.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  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)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered the information Mr X provided. I sent Mr X a draft of my decision and considered his comments on it.

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What I found

  1. Mr X complains the Council has provided incorrect information to the court in ongoing proceedings relating to his friend’s children.

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Final decision

  1. We cannot investigate this complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. This is because the complaint is about matters that are being considered in court proceedings. The law prevents us from investigating such matters. We have no discretion to do so. This restriction also applies to reports and documents provided to the court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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