Wiltshire Council (20 008 947)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 12 Jan 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s preparation and content of a report it prepared for Court proceedings. We also cannot investigate information given by officers to the Court within those proceedings.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, says a Council officer lied to a Court and she complains about the way the Council prepared a report for Court and its contents.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered the information Ms X provided with her complaint and the Council’s replies which it provided. I considered Ms X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.
What I found
- The father of Ms X’s child, Mr Y, applied to Court for it to decide the care arrangements for their child, D. As part of those proceedings, the Court ordered the Council provide it with a report about the child’s circumstances and welfare. This is a section seven Children Act report.
- Ms X complains about how the Council compiled the report. She says the Council tried to insist on a personal visit to her home, which she believes breached COVID-19 regulations. She says the report was inaccurate and unfair.
- Ms X also says an officer lied to the Court.
- We cannot investigate complaints about the preparation, collation, and analysis of evidence given to a Court. This includes reports written by social workers or other officers for court proceedings and evidence given by council officers in any proceedings and the process it used to prepare those reports.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because we cannot investigate reports which form part of Court proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman