The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint that the Council discriminated against the complainant in matters relating to the care of his children. This is because the children’s care has been considered in Court.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Mr B, complains that the Council has discriminated against him in matters relating to the care of his children.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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) The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by a council concerning a matter which is outside our jurisdiction. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr B’s children live with their mother. Their care has been the subject of legal action. Mr B complains that the Council has discriminated against him on the grounds of his mental health, has ignored his concerns, and treated him less favourably than the other party.
Mr B complains that, as a result of the fault on the Council’s part, a flawed Section 7 report was produced for the Court and his concerns have remained unaddressed. He further complains that the Council has unreasonably closed his complaint.
The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint. This is because the welfare and care of Mr B’s children have been considered in Court. Section 7 reports ordered by the Court to provide information on the children’s welfare are the property of the Court and matters, including the Council’s input into their production and content, fall outside our jurisdiction by law. This restriction also applies to evidence provided by any party to the Court. We will not therefore consider whether discrimination has impacted on Mr B’s ability to make his case.
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. We will not therefore consider how the Council responded to Mr B’s complaint.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr B’s complaint because it concerns matters which have been considered in Court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman