Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint the Council ignored her reports of coercive control. Part of the complaint is late and more recent matters have been considered by the Court.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about contact she had with the Council’s Children’s Service. She said Council Officers ignored her reports of coercive control perpetrated by her ex-partner, and instead focussed on her mental health. She said that resulted in the Council providing the Court and other agencies incorrect information about her.
2. Miss X said the Council’s actions had caused her emotional harm. She wants the Council to apologise and rectify any incorrect information it has about her.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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)
5. We have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended, section 34(B))
6. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
7. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. Miss X said a Council Officer who supported her in 2022 shared incorrect information about her with the Health Service and ignored her reports of coercive control.
11. Miss X did not complain to the Ombudsman until 2024. Therefore, this part of her complaint is late and we should not investigate. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion. Miss X could have complained to us sooner if she was unhappy with the Council’s actions in 2022.
12. Miss X also complained about the Council’s more recent involvement and its preparation of a court report. She said the Council focused on her mental health and provided the Court incorrect information.
13. The law says we cannot investigate matters that have been considered by the courts. That includes any reports completed by the Council that form part of court proceedings. Therefore, we cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s report. If Miss X had any concerns about how the Council completed that report, it was appropriate for her to raise these during court proceedings.
14. The Council’s complaint response dealt with general concerns Miss X had with Council Officer conduct. These related to their communication and attitudes. It did not uphold the complaint. There is no evidence of fault in how the Council considered those concerns, therefore further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

15. We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint because part of it is late and most recent matters have formed part of court proceedings.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman