Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a social worker’s court ordered report because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court. We have no discretion to do so.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about a social worker’s court report which has been considered in family court proceedings. Mr X says the report was one-sided, misleading, ignored readily available evidence and contained incorrect and unverified information which he did not have the opportunity to rebut.

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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.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained to the Council about the social worker’s court ordered report which he said misrepresented the facts and falsely claimed Mr X had admitted to abusive behaviour which is not the case.
8. The Council told Mr X it could not consider his complaint via its complaints procedure. This is because the issues raised in his complaint related to the court proceedings and it cannot consider matters that have been considered in court. It explained this restriction means it cannot consider complaints about the production of court reports which have been submitted to the court.
9. We cannot investigate this complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court. We have no discretion to do so. This restriction means we cannot consider complaints about evidence the Council has provided to the court or about the preparation of evidence and reports for the court. It is not separable from the court proceedings. Any dissatisfaction with the contents of the report should be raised to the court via Mr X’s legal representative so that the judge can consider it before the proceedings conclude. It is not a matter we have any discretion to consider.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman