Summary: We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s section 7 court report. We have no jurisdiction to look at matters subject to court proceedings.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council’s social worker produced a section 7 court report containing historical sensitive information about her. She says in doing so, the Council breached the data protection law.
2. Mrs X complains the Council did not discuss the impact of adding sensitive information beforehand.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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)
5. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by Mrs X.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. I cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint. A section 7 court report forms part of court proceedings. We have no jurisdiction to investigate any matters related to its content or preparation. Further, it is open to Mrs X to take her complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if she believes the Council breached the data protection law in disclosing her data. It is the appropriate body to consider any complaints about data protection.

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Final decision

9. We cannot investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it relates to court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman