Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the content of a court report and subsequent data request because we cannot investigate what happened in court and the issues are intrinsically linked to legal proceedings. Also, the Information Commissioners Office are better placed to consider the complaint about a subject access request so we will not investigate.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complained the Council mishandled a false statement which then became part of a section 7 Children Act 1989 report, dealt with her complaint about the incorrect information in the report incorrectly and then failed to share information she had requested as part of a subject access request.
2. Miss Y says the issues have impacted on her family court case, damaged her reputation, caused deep upset and impacted her mental health and her child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 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))
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. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
7. 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)
8. 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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How I considered this complaint

9. I considered information Miss Y provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. Miss Y has complained the Council mishandled false information, which was subsequently included in a section 7 report, prepared for the court. The law prevents us from becoming involved in matters that are or have been the subject of court proceedings. Miss Y says the contents of the report, based on information which she says is incorrect, has affected the outcome of her court case. This is because it has been part of a report written for the court and will have been presented to the court.
11. The issues raised are therefore intrinsically linked to the proceedings which are or have already been considered by the courts so we will not investigate. Any reports for the court have been part of legal proceedings, so we do not have the power to investigate these matters. We cannot investigate.
12. If Miss Y wishes to seek changes to the decision or any arrangements made by the court, she would need to approach the court to raise these issues. We have no power to intervene or make decisions in place of the court. Only the court can decide what is in a child’s best interest and on any matters of dispute. We would consider it reasonable to expect Miss Y to go to court about such matters.
13. Miss Y has also complained about a response she has received from the Council after she made a subject access request which she says related to trying to correct the records held. Miss Y has the right to request records are ‘rectified’. Where the Council refuses to do so, she can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if she wishes to pursue the matter. Parliament set up the ICO to consider data protection disputes which includes ‘right to rectification’ disputes. The ICO are better placed than us to consider if the Council should change its records particularly because there are complex exemptions for child case files.
14. The ICO is the UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights. It promotes openness by public bodies and protects the privacy of individuals. It deals with complaints about public authorities’ failures to comply with data protection legislation. The ICO is free to approach and can make reasonable adjustments if needed. Therefore, we would consider it reasonable to expect Miss Y to approach the ICO about the matter and we will not investigate.
15. As we are not investigating the substantive issues in this complaint, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate how the Council dealt with Miss Y’s complaint, so we will not investigate this issue.

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Final decision

16. We cannot investigate Miss Y’s complaint because we cannot investigate what happened in court and the issues are intrinsically linked to legal proceedings. Also, the Information Commissioners Office are better placed to consider the complaint about a subject access request so we will not investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman