Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a report used in court and the Council delay in responding to his complaint. This is because the issues Mr X raises cannot be separated from the matters decided in court.

The complaint

1. Mr X says a report prepared by the Council social worker about his children was inaccurate and resulted in a care order.
2. Mr X’s complaint is still being considered by the Council, but he is unhappy about the delay in response. He wants the report to be corrected, an apology and financial compensation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. We cannot intervene in court proceedings or investigate reports prepared for the court.
8. 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. So, Mr X’s potential remedy lies via his own action in the courts, and we cannot investigate.
9. With respect to the delayed response to his complaint, I note Mr X has received a stage one reply from the Council and is shortly due a stage two response. He has also been kept updated of progress. However, the Ombudsman would not investigate the delay on its own when we are not looking at the main issue in his complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint issues are not separable from what happened in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman