Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about a report used in court. This is because the complaint issues Ms X raises are out of our jurisdiction as they are not separable from the matters decided in court.

The complaint

1. Ms X says a court report prepared by the Council social worker about her child was inaccurate. She says this resulted in the court giving her less time with her daughter.
2. She wants the Council to accept the report was unfair and for it to be removed from proceedings. She also wants the social worker to do her job properly.

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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 the complainant.
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 Ms X’s case, those consequences are matters which have already gone before a court in the form of reports and evidence and decided upon by a Judge.
9. Ms X would have had the opportunity to raise any issues at court through her legal representatives. Her potential remedy also lies, via her own action in the courts, and so we cannot investigate.

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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 and are therefore outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman