Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council produced biased and inaccurate reports in relation to her child. The law prevents us from investigating matters that were considered, or could have been considered, in Court.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains a council officer was biased and produced inaccurate reports for the family court.

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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. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. The matters that Ms X raises were considered, or could have been considered, as part of the Family Court proceedings. If Ms X was dissatisfied with the information provided by the Council, it would have been reasonable for her to dispute those during the court proceedings.
8. We cannot investigate any allegations of bias, unprofessional behaviour or factual inaccuracies in any reports used in court as these form part of the court proceedings. We also cannot say whether the Family Practitioner’s conduct or claims impacted the court outcome. Therefore, I will not investigate Ms X’s complaint.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the matters were considered, or could have been considered, in Court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman