Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider his complaint until it has received confirmation that the ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains about matters relating to the Council’s child protection involvement with his family. Mr X says the Council has failed to safeguard his child and has discriminated against him due to his gender.

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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. We do not start an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The Council has told Mr X it will not consider his complaint until it has received notification that the ongoing court proceedings have concluded. It explained it will be open to Mr X to resubmit his complaint to the Council once the proceedings have concluded.
7. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider his complaint until the court proceedings have concluded. This is to ensure the proceedings, which must take precedence over a complaint investigation, are not at risk of being prejudiced by a concurrent investigation. It is a decision the Council has discretion to make and it is made in line with statutory guidance to local authority children’s services on the handling of complaints where there are ongoing proceedings. This gives it discretion to decide not to investigate a complaint where there are ongoing proceedings.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider his complaint until ongoing court proceedings have concluded.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman