Summary: Mr X complains a Coroner did not do her job properly. He says wrong information was read out in court and the hearing was not recorded. We cannot investigate the actions of the Coroner or what happened in court. The Council has apologised for failing to record the hearing. Further investigation on this point will not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. The complainant, I shall call Mr X, complains that false information was read out in court at the inquest into his late father’s death. He also complains the proceedings were not recorded unlike the other cases heard on the same day.
2. He says the Coroner has not done her job properly. He wants
• The inquest reheard with factually correct information; and
• A formal apology from the Coroner.

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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. Coroners are judicial office holders and not employees of the council. Coroners’ decisions can only be challenged by judicial review. The Ombudsman cannot investigate the actions of the Corner.
5. 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)

6. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

9. The Ombudsman has limited jurisdiction to look at complaints about coroners’ offices. Coroners are judicial office holders and not employees of a council. Their decisions can only be challenged by judicial review.
10. We cannot involve ourselves in any dispute about the result of an inquest which should be challenged by judicial review. Neither can we deal with a complaint about the personal conduct of a coroner or start disciplinary proceedings against them.
11. Mr X says some information read out at the inquest into his late father’s death was wrong. The law says we cannot investigate any issue that has been considered in court as part of legal proceedings. The information which Mr X says was wrong was part of the legal proceedings in the coroner’s court. This means I have no power to start an investigation into what said at the inquest.
12. The Council has apologised for failing to record the inquest. It has investigated and determined this was because of human error. It confirms it has put steps in place to ensure the error is not repeated. I do not consider that further investigation into this point will lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

13. We cannot investigate this complaint. This is because the actions or the coroner are outside our jurisdiction. As are any matters related to the legal proceedings.
14. Also, further investigation into the failure to record the hearing will not lead to a different outcome.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman