Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about the actions of the Council during court proceedings. The law prevents us from investigating what happens in court.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about the Council’s actions during court proceedings. Ms X says the Council provided inaccurate information to the court and failed to follow the court’s direction. Ms X says the Council failed to properly deal with her complaints about these matters.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is about what happened in court. We have no power to investigate what the Council did during these proceedings. This includes the preparation and contents of reports provided by the Council during proceedings.
7. I will not investigate how the Council dealt with Ms X’s complaints about these matters. 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.

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Final decision

8. We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is about what happened in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman