Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with the complainant’s family and the care arrangements of his child. This is because the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings, and we are unable to achieve the outcome the complainant seeks.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains about the Council’s involvement with his family. Mr X says a Council officer acted inappropriately with his child, the Council failed to correct a care plan and officers attacked his mental health.
2. Mr X wants answers and a public enquiry.

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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 late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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)
6. 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)
7. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. The Council advises it was contacted by Mr X in 2019 and 2020 about various matters. It says a recent interim care order has been made about the care of Mr X’s child and a final hearing is listed for June 2023.
11. The Council says ultimately it told Mr X it could raise his concerns about social worker reports in court so it would not accept his complaints.
12. I cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint as his complaints above are late and fundamentally seem rooted in information the Council provided during court proceedings. The law prevents us from considering complaints about what happened in court or matters which are linked to court proceedings.
13. If Mr X feels the information provided to the court is inaccurate or if he is unhappy with the contact /care arrangements of his child, he needs to raise this with the Court. We have no powers to decide the contact arrangements for a child, these are matters for the courts.
14. We have no powers to order a public enquiry.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matters are subject to ongoing court proceedings, and we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman