The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters such as this which are subject to ongoing court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complained about a social worker’s actions in the Council’s child protection involvement with his family. The Council told Mr X it would not consider his complaint further because his childrens’ case is being considered in ongoing court proceedings.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) 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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X complained to the Council about the allocated social worker’s actions during the Council’s child protection involvement with his family.
The complaint included concerns about injuries his children sustained between 2020 and 2022; the social worker’s bias towards his childrens’ mother; the social worker attending court and the evidence she provided to the court. Mr X says the social worker’s attendance in court has prejudiced the court in favour of his childrens’ mother. He says the Council’s failures have left him unable to access his children and have cost him thousands of pounds.
The Council considered the complaint at stage one of its complaints procedure but said it would not progress to stage two. This is because the childrens’ case is currently being considered in ongoing court proceedings and the issues relating to Mr X’s children would be considered during the proceedings.
There is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider the complaint further due to the matter being subject to court proceedings. This approach is in line with the Council’s published complaints procedure.
A restriction on considering matters which are subject to court proceedings also applies to the Ombudsman. The law prevents us from considering complaints about matters that are, or have been, subject to court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. This restriction also applies to reports and evidence provided to the court. Any dissatisfaction with the evidence provided by the Council to the court in reports or in person should be raised during the course of the proceedings so the judge is able to consider it before making a decision. It is not a matter we can consider.
Some parts of Mr X’s complaint also lie outside our jurisdiction because they are late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of a person first becoming aware of the matter. However, due to the restriction set out in paragraph 11, above, we would not be able to consider these matters even if they were not late.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from considering complaints about matters that are being, or have been, considered in court. We have no discretion to do so.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman