Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in its child protection involvement with her family because it lies outside our jurisdiction. This is because the matter is subject to ongoing court proceedings. The law says we cannot consider complaints about matters that are being, or have been, considered in court. We have no discretion to do so.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Ms X, complains about the Council’s actions in its child protection involvement with her family. Her child is currently in foster care and the case is subject to ongoing court proceedings. Ms X says the Council lied in its most recent statement to the court and has breached the court’s contact order which has led to her missing many hours of contact with her child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that are being, or have been, subject to court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. This restriction also applies to any documents provided to the court.
8. Any dissatisfaction with the information provided to the court should be raised to the court during the proceedings so the judge can consider it before a final decision is reached.
9. If Ms X believes the Council is breaching a court order, this should also be raised to the court. It will then be able to make a ruling on whether a breach has occurred and, if so, whether any action is required. It is not a matter we can decide.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is about matters that are being considered in court and the law says we cannot consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman