Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about information disclosed in the course of legal proceedings. This is because the law prevents the Ombudsman from considering evidence provided to a court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council provided false and misleading information to the Court, and failed to identify and act on issues of abuse and control by his children’s mother.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We have the power to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been, raised within a court of law. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The care of Mr B’s children is the subject of legal proceedings. In the course of these proceedings, the Council has provided information to the Court. Mr B says the information is inaccurate and misleading. He also contends that it shows Council’s officers have failed to identify behaviours on his wife’s part which have amounted to abuse and control.
7. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint. By law, information provided to a court falls outside our jurisdiction and we cannot therefore consider its content or how it was prepared. We can take no view on its accuracy or otherwise. Mr B’s concerns about his children’s welfare may be brought to the Court’s attention. There is no role for us.
8. The Council has set out that Mr B may bring his concerns about the accuracy of its records to the attention of the Information Commissioner‘s Office, which is better placed than the Ombudsman to consider them. We will not intervene.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint because it concerns information disclosed in the course of legal proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman