Hertfordshire County Council (20 010 308)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Feb 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint that the Council provided false and misleading information to the Family Court. This is because the complaint concerns evidence provided to a court.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council provided false and misleading information about him to the Family Court.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
- The Courts have said that we cannot investigate a complaint about any action by a council, concerning a matter which is itself out of our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered what Mr B has said in support of his complaint. I have offered him the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision.
What I found
- Mr B’s son has been the subject of private law proceedings regarding contact. Mr B says that, in the course of the proceedings, the Council sent a letter to the Family Court. He complains that the letter contained false and misleading information about him.
- Mr B wants the Ombudsman to investigate how the Council came by the information in the letter, after which he intends to take legal action.
- We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint. The law says we cannot investigate matters which are considered in court. This includes evidence submitted to a court and how that evidence is produced. Mr B’s complaint therefore falls outside our jurisdiction and we cannot investigate it. There is no discretion available to us on this matter.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because it concerns evidence provided to a court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman