Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement with Mr X’s family. The matters complained about were either considered by a court which the law says we cannot consider or are closely linked to matters that have been or could have been raised during court proceedings that we will not investigate.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s children’s services. Mr X complained the Council:
1. did not treat him fairly during its involvement with his family during court proceedings;
2. failed to communicate with him effectively; and
3. failed to process his complaints in line with its policy.
2. Mr X said the matters caused him stress.

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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 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. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

9. Mr X said the Council did not treat him fairly when gathering information to inform a report for family court proceedings.
10. Mr X said the Council treated other parties to the proceedings more favourably.
11. We cannot investigate this complaint. The court considered the content of the Council’s reports and process the Council followed. Because the matter was considered by a court, we cannot investigate.
12. Other elements of Mr X’s complaint are broadly centred around matters which either have been or could have been raised in court. Therefore, it would have been reasonable to expect Mr X to raise his concerns as part of the court proceedings, and so we will not investigate.
13. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue. Therefore, we will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s complaint handling.

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Final decision

14. We cannot investigate part of Mr X’s complaint because it relates to matters considered by a court. We will not investigate the remainder because the issues either have been or could have been raised during court, and the tests in our Assessment Code are not met.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman