Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions relating to an assessment it carried out in 2020. This is because the matters complained about are not separable from court proceedings that have already happened or are ongoing and could reasonably be raised in court.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council used a flawed methodology to assess him in 2020. He said he only recently discovered the reporting methodology was flawed and now wants the Council to rectify the assessments it did.
2. Mr X says he is concerned these matters will have affected earlier assessments and family court judgements and may affect family court proceedings that are ongoing.

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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))
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))
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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

10. Mr X complained to us in 2022 and 2023 about related matters affecting the Council’s assessment of he and his family. We could not investigate those earlier complaints because there were related family court proceedings ongoing and because of the restriction in law, I have mentioned in paragraph four.
11. Mr X said in 2026, he identified that a reporting tool the Council used to assess him, in 2020, was no longer considered to be reliable. He is worried that this may have affected earlier outcomes at court and may yet affect ongoing family court proceedings.
12. I will not investigate Mr X’s new complaint about the Council’s earlier reporting methodology. This is because the new concerns he now has, substantially relates to previous assessments, which will have been or could have been addressed in court at the time, if Mr X believed they adversely affected his position.
13. Additionally, it is likely historical assessments will form part of the ongoing court proceedings, or if not, Mr X can challenge the earlier assessments in court where necessary.
14. Finally, Mr X can raise any concerns about data rectification with the Information Commissioner.

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Final decision

15. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because the matters complained about are not separable from court proceedings that have already happened or are ongoing and could reasonably be raised in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman