Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to the care of the complainant’s daughter. This is because those actions have been in the context of private law proceedings and therefore fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains that the Council has failed to act to safeguard his daughter, has failed to provide the Court with accurate information, and that its officer has acted unprofessionally in its involvement with him.

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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)
4. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))

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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. Mr X’s daughter is the subject of private law proceedings regarding her care. Mr X says the Council has been at fault in its involvement with the case. Specifically, he is critical of the actions of the Council’s social worker.
8. Mr X says the social worker has acted inappropriately, has threatened to remove his child from his care and has failed to address safeguarding concerns he has raised. He alleges the social worker has provided inaccurate information to the Court.
9. The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint. The complaint correspondence shows that the Council’s involvement with Mr X has been in the context of the private law proceedings and, specifically, the production of a Section 37 report.
10. As part of private law proceedings involving children, the court may ask the Council to produce a section 37 report. The court will then consider the report as part of its decision making. Because section 37 reports form part of court proceedings, we have no jurisdiction to investigate their preparation or content and cannot do so. This restriction applies to all actions of the social worker in connection with the report’s preparation.
11. The legal proceedings provide Mr X with the appropriate forum in which to air his concerns about his child’s care. There is no role for the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

12. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it concerns matters which will be considered in court or are not separable form those matters.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman