Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about alleged bias and unprofessionalism of the Council in its dealings with Dr Z. The opinions formed by the allocated Social Worker have already been subject to scrutiny by a court. An absolute and permanent legal bar prevents us from considering the view expressed and the way in which they were formed.

The complaint

1. Mr X makes this complaint on Dr Z’s behalf. Mr X complains the Council’s handling and approach to matters about Dr Z’s children was biased and unprofessional. Dr Z was excluded from key meetings about his children and concerns about his ex-wife were ignored or downplayed. Mr X believes the Council’s actions caused avoidable distress to Dr Z and his children. Mr X wants the Council to compensate Dr Z for its poor case and complaint handling.

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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. 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)
6. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. I note in passing the Council’s own investigation into Mr X’s complaints found some fault in the way it had dealt with Dr Z for which it has apologised and offered a remedy. The documents Mr X has supplied show Dr Z took legal action to seek access and contact with his children in early 2022, which led to a fact-finding hearing in November 2022. The views and testimony of the Council Social Worker were subject to cross-examination and consideration by the judge presiding.
9. Consideration by the court triggers an absolute and permanent legal bar which prevents us from investigating these matters. I appreciate Mr X believes Dr Z only incurred some costs because of the Council’s poor handling. However, we cannot investigate how the Social Worker’s views were arrived at, even if that might in other circumstances potentially be a matter of fault.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because a legal bar prevents us investigating matters that happened in court, or which were or could reasonably have been raised in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman