Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about a safeguarding investigation the Council carried out in 2020. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late and there are no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider this very late complaint now. Also, we cannot consider a claim of negligence as that is a legal matter for the courts to consider and decide.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about a safeguarding investigation the Council carried out in 2020 and about the impact of its findings.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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 council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. Miss X complains about a safeguarding investigation she was the subject of in 2020 which found allegations made against her of financial abuse and grooming were partially substantiated. Miss X says the Council was negligent and its investigation was not properly conducted. Miss X says she lost her job and home as a result.
9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of the person affected first becoming aware of the matter. Miss X was clearly aware of the matter at the time and I see no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider it now so long after the events occurred. Also, given the significant passage of time it is unlikely we would be able to carry out a full investigation and reach a reliable view on the issues raised now almost 4 years after the original investigation.
10. Miss X also claims the Council was negligent. We could not make a finding on negligence even if the complaint was not late. Negligence is a legal matter for the courts to consider and decide. Should Miss X wish to submit a negligence claim against the Council it would need to be made via the courts. The courts could then make a finding on whether the Council was negligent and, if so, whether to award any damages Miss X seeks. It is not a matter the Ombudsman could rule on.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and there are no good grounds to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman