The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about a social worker’s court reports. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. The law prevents us from considering complaints about such matters.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains a social worker was biased; discriminated against him and lied in court reports which were considered in court proceedings. Mr X says this led to his children being placed in their mother’s care and he had visits only via a contact centre for two years.
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 do not start an investigation if we decide 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 that a social worker was biased against him and lied in court ordered reports which were considered in court proceedings in 2022. Mr X says this led to his ex-partner having custody of the children.
The Council told Mr X it would not consider his complaint because it was about events which were more than 12 months old and also related to decisions made in court, which it cannot challenge.
We cannot consider Mr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so. Any dissatisfaction with the contents of the court reports could have been raised to the court during the proceedings so that the judge could consider it before the court made its decision. We cannot consider it now.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and we have no discretion to consider it. This is because the matter has been considered and decided in court proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman