Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint that the Council has been at fault in matters relating to the care of and contact with the complainant’s child. This is because it concerns matters which have been considered in court, or are not separable from those matters.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr X, complains that the Council has been at fault in matters relating to the care of and contact with his child in the course of legal proceedings, and in responding to his complaints about his actions.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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

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. Mr X’s child is in the Council’s care and has been the subject of court proceedings. Mr X believes the Council’s officers have been at fault throughout their involvement with his family.
7. The complaint correspondence shows that Mr X’s areas of dissatisfaction include what he regards as officers’ failure to produce adequate reports for the Court. He says this significantly delayed the proceedings, as the Court was compelled to obtain further reports. He also complains that the Council made accusations which were not supported by evidence but were accepted by the Court.
8. Mr X further complains about the Council’s management of contact with his child while the legal proceedings have been ongoing. He contends that the Council has failed to facilitate the contact to which he is entitled and has worked to alienate the child from his parents.
9. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the actions about which he complains have been considered in court, or are inextricably linked to matters which have been. This places them outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.
10. By law, the Ombudsman cannot investigate matters which have been considered in court. This includes the content of reports and other evidence submitted to a court by a council. It also applies to how the reports were produced. That being the case, the law prevents us from considering the Council’s involvement with the legal proceedings. I note that Mr X says his barrister has raised concerns about the management of contact with the Judge. This means we cannot consider this matter either.
11. The Courts have held that the restriction applies to anything which is inextricably linked to matters which are considered in a court. This means we cannot investigate matters relating to the care of or contact with Mr X’s child. There is no discretion available to us.
12. Where the substantive matters cannot be investigated, it is not a good use of public resources to consider how a council has responded to a complaint about them, and we will not do so. That is the case here.

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Final decision

13. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it concerns matters which have been considered in court, or are not separable from those matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman