Summary: I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with a parental contact dispute involving his daughter and delay in handling his complaints. The Council has agreed to remedy Mr X’s injustice by paying him £600 for the complaint handling. We cannot lawfully investigate the contact complaint because a court dealt with it.

The complaint

1. Complaint 1: Mr X complains the Council’s social workers involvement with his family led to a reduction in his contact with his daughter. He says social workers advised the mother to stop his contact. Mr X says social workers failed to understand his mental health and misled a judge about his situation in 2020 and 2022. Mr X says the Council made things worse, prevented him getting help, and harmed his physical and mental health. Mr X says the Council should help with contact handovers between him and the mother. He wants his daughter to stay overnight with him again. Mr X says he needs help at home and a carer to bring this about.
2. Complaint 2: Mr X complains the Council has failed to handle his complaint properly. He says the stage 2 investigation report contained contradictory information. He says the Council has not fully acknowledged or understood what went wrong. He says the offered remedy of £300 compensation is not enough for the delay and damage caused.

Back to top

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)
5. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information and comments provided by the complainant and the Council. The information includes Mr X’s reply to the draft decision statement, the statutory complaint replies, and an outline of the complaint handling.

Back to top

My assessment

7. I will not investigate this complaint for the following reasons:
8. Complaint 1: The Council’s actions regarding the parental contact dispute are outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction because a court dealt with the case (see paragraphs 3 and 4). From early 2019 to September 2022 the court dealt with the private law case which included an early decision to have supervised contact. The court required the Council to provide written reports. We cannot investigate the social worker’s assessments or evidence to court including the reports completed in the Summer of 2019, Autumn 2021, and early 2022. The court also considered overnight stays.

Complaint 2:

9. We cannot investigate the substantive matters in the statutory complaint which involve the social worker’s assessments and views regarding contact for the reason given in paragraph 8. There is no other separable injustice, relating to the children’s case. In September 2022 the Court made a child arrangement order which covers contact including handovers at neutral venues. The Court did not require the Council to supervise the arrangements. The Council was entitled to close the case which it did later that month.
10. There is fault in the Council’s handling of the children’s statutory complaint procedure which is within the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction:
1. There is significant delay amounting to some 20 months. Mr X first complained in May 2020. Stage 2 started in August 2020 and was concluded on 19 May 2022 when the law says no more than 65 days. On 25 May Mr X requested stage 3 and there followed some months of discussion about what could be included. On 24 November the Stage 3 Review Panel was held. Stage 3 was completed in December 2022.
2. The Council should have been more proactive in ensuring the complaint was handled within time requirements. In addition, Mr X is a vulnerable person due to his health issues.
11. The Council accepts there was delay and acknowledges it could/should have been more proactive in handling the complaint. It will remedy the injustice caused by the complaint handling. It has accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendation to pay Mr X £600 rather than the originally proposed £300.

Back to top

Final decision

12. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with a parental contact dispute involving his daughter and delay in handling his complaints. The Council has agreed to remedy Mr X’s injustice by paying him £600 for the complaint handling. We cannot lawfully investigate the contact complaint because a court dealt with it.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman