Cheshire East Council (20 012 400)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 10 Oct 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about a report prepared for the Family Court. This is because we have no legal remit to investigate.
The complaint
- Mr X and Mrs Y says false allegations about Mr X were recorded by a council officer in a report used in court. They say the report was biased against them, contained factual inaccuracies and ignored the controlling and manipulative behaviour of Mrs Y’s ex- partner.
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)
How I considered this complaint
- I have considered all the complaint information sent in by Mr X and Mrs Y and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
What I found
- The court asked the Council to produce a ‘welfare’ report to decide custody and contact arrangements for children. However, we cannot intervene in court proceedings or investigate reports prepared for the court.
- We cannot separately investigate council officer actions without considering their consequences. In this case, all the effect of the Council’s actions are in the court proceedings, reports, and evidence.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman