The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s childrens services involvement with her family because it lies outside our jurisdiction. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered and decided in court proceedings, such as this. We have no discretion to do so.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains about the Council’s involvement with her family during private court proceedings relating to her children and about the reports the Council provided to the court. Ms X says the allocated social worker was unprofessional, incompetent, judgemental and one-sided. Ms X also complains the Council breached a court order when it reduced her contact with her daughter.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complains about the Council’s involvement with her family during private court proceedings and about reports the Council provided to the court. Ms X also complains the Council breached a court order.
The law prevents the Ombudsman from investigating complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. This restriction also applies to reports which are provided to the court. We have no discretion to consider complaints about such matters and cannot do so.
If Ms X believes the Council has breached a court order this is a matter which would need to be returned to the court. It is for the courts to decide if an order has been breached and if so, whether to take any action. It is not a matter the Ombudsman can decide.
Final decision
We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is about matters that have been considered in court and we have no discretion to consider it.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman