Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council was at fault in preventing the complainant from having contact with his grandchildren. This is because the complaint concerns a matter which could have been taken to court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains that the Council was at fault in preventing him from having contact with his grandchildren during child protection action.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X’s grandchildren were the subject of child protection action during which they were removed from their mother’s care. Mr X says that the Council was at fault in preventing him from having access to the children during this period.
8. Mr X says the children have now been returned to their mother, but the Council has never explained why he was denied contact. He further states that the Council was at fault in allowing legal action to continue once a higher court had ruled on the matter.
9. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. If he believed the Council was at fault in denying him contact with the children, his recourse was to apply to the Court himself to ask it to make a contact order. It would have been reasonable for him to do so and this is not a matter for the Ombudsman.
10. The law says that we cannot consider what happens in a court. We cannot therefore consider either the outcome of the legal action or the Council’s involvement in it. These matters fall outside our jurisdiction and we cannot investigate them.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it concern a matter which he could have taken to court and is outside our jurisdiction.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman