Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a social worker’s report for court proceedings and their conduct in court because we cannot investigate complaints about court action. We will not investigate his complaint about the social worker’s conduct at a core group meeting as we could not add to the Council’s response.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council’s social worker ignored his reports of domestic abuse against himself and his child by his former partner, Ms Y, and says the Council prefers the views of mothers over the views of fathers. He is unhappy with the report the social worker prepared for the court and with their conduct in the court hearing. He also complained the social worker lied and made spiteful comments in a core group meeting.
2. Mr X said the Council’s failings meant he can no longer live with his child and now has to have supervised contact with them, which has caused him considerable distress and his wider family have also suffered as a result.

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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 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Mr X complained the social worker ignored his reports of domestic abuse. In its complaint response, the Council said the social worker had considered what Mr X said and the evidence he provided but did not consider the evidence supported his claim of domestic abuse. In addition, the social worker had meet with the child, who had consistently said Ms Y was a protective factor for them. The social worker set out their views in a report for the court. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about court action. This means we cannot consider Mr X’s complaint about the report the social worker prepared for the court, nor their conduct in the court hearing. Therefore, we will not consider this part of the complaint further.
9. Mr X also complained the social worker lied and made spiteful comments in a core group meeting. In its complaint response, the Council said it had spoken to the social worker and reviewed the minutes of the meeting. It found no evidence to support Mr X’s view. Although it did not find fault with the social worker, the Council accepted a fresh start would be helpful and agreed to a change of social worker, which was one of the outcomes Mr X sought. We will not investigate this complaint further because it is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome or that we could add to the Council’s investigation.

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Final decision

10. We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the court action. We will not investigate his complaint about the social worker’s conduct at the core group meeting because it is unlikely that further investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman