Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the report the Council submitted to court as part of private proceedings. The law prevents us investigating matters that have been considered in court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s investigation and report which it shared with the courts as part of private proceedings. Miss X said the Council’s report was incorrect, incomprehensive and lacked detail. She said the Council declined to investigate her complaint. She said the matter caused significant distress to her and her children. She wanted the Council to correct the report and safeguard her and her children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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))
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Miss X’s complaint is about the report the Council submitted to the courts as part of private proceedings between Miss X and her children’s father. She also complains about the investigation process, and the Council’s refusal to consider her complaint about the matter.
8. The law prevents us from considering matters that have been considered in court. We cannot investigate the content of the report the Council completed and submitted to court. Miss X has the opportunity to dispute the contents of the report as part of the private proceedings, which are ongoing. Her comments on the report are relevant to any decision the court makes. We have no power to intervene in this process.
9. We will not investigate the Council’s actions in gathering the information needed to inform its report. This is inextricably linked to the proceedings themselves, and we could not investigate the assessment process without encroaching on the role of the courts. We will not investigate the Council’s complaint-handling in isolation as doing so is not a good use of public funds.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is about matters that have been considered in court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman