Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the evidence Council officers gave a Court. Evidence forms part of legal proceedings, which we have no power to investigate.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, says Council officers gave a Court inaccurate information which means she cannot see her child, B.

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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. The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, on a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Mrs X provided with her complaint. Mrs X had the opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

5. Mrs X says Council officers provided false and misleading information to a Court about her child. B. She says as a result, she is no longer able to see B.
6. Mrs X would like the officers ‘struck off’ and for the Council to fully investigate her complaint.

Analysis

7. We cannot investigate the preparation, collation, and analysis of evidence, including reports written by social workers or other officers for court proceedings. This includes the use of a report written previously, in later court proceedings. We also cannot investigate the oral evidence given by council officers in any proceedings.
8. We also cannot investigate how the Council replied to Mrs X’s complaint about the information given to a Court for the reasons set out in paragraph three.
   
    

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Final decision

9. The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate evidence given to a Court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman