Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in respect of Mr X. The matters complained of are closely linked to the conduct of court proceedings concerning the care of a child.

The complaint

1. Mr X said the Council refused to engage with him or address his concerns, breached data protection rules and allowed an assessment to be produced in court proceedings rather than a court-ordered report. He says this has potentially affected his standing in a family court.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint if someone has started court action about the matter. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
5. 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)).
6. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered information provided by the complainant.
8. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

9. The complaint correspondence Mr X has provided indicates there have been proceedings in the family court and that these have been ongoing. The matters complained of are not separable from what has been raised in court or could reasonably be raised in court. We cannot investigate these matters.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matters complained of are closely linked to matters that have been or could reasonably be raised in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman