Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (21 015 288)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 Feb 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council failing to risk-assess contact between Mr X’s sons and their birth parents and take appropriate safeguarding action. There has been court action concerning both sons and the matters complained of are not separable from matters that either were or could have been raised in court.
The complaint
- Mr X said the Council failed to safeguard his sons, caused the break-up of his family, and failed in various legal and moral duties.
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 if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
- The courts have said that where someone has used their right of appeal, reference or review or remedy by way of proceedings in any court of law, the Ombudsman has no jurisdiction to investigate. This is the case even if the appeal did not or could not provide a complete remedy for all the injustice claimed. (R v The Commissioner for Local Administration ex parte PH (1999) EHCA Civ 916)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- There are wide-ranging limits on our investigation of matters where there has been court action. That action includes the submission of papers to a court in advance of a case. Matters are not separable from court action if they were, or are likely to have been, before a court. That does not depend upon who initiated the court action.
- In this case, I have seen evidence confirming there has been court action concerning both children. This evidence confirms the courts received large bundles for the cases. The events leading to the breakdown in family life to which Mr X refers would inevitably feature in those papers. Therefore, the matters of which Mr X complains, although probably not the key issue before the courts, would not be separable from the matters considered by the courts.
Final decision
- We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matters complained of are not separable from matters that have been before the courts.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman