Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council’s actions in 2022 and 2023. There is not a good reason for the delay in the complaint being made to the Council and escalated to the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Ms X and her mother, Mrs Y, complained to us via a support service. Their complaints included the Council:
• Provided Mrs Y insufficient care at home, meaning she had to move into care in 2022;
• failed to offer a care home in the local area that did not require a top up fee;
• failed to properly inform them about charging for care and delayed financially assessing Mrs Y; and
• failed to provide 6 weeks’ free intermediate care.
2. They also complained about a fall Mrs Y had in the care home in 2022. They said the Care Provider did not have appropriate supervision and prevention measures in place. They said the Council failed to provide them with records of the incident.
3. Ms X and Mrs Y said these matters meant Mrs Y paid more for her care than she should have. They said she experienced pain, reduced mobility and distress. They wanted the Council to apologise and pay a financial remedy.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 or care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. The matters Ms X and Mrs Y complain about occurred between 2022 and 2023. The law says people must complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter unless there are good reasons.
9. Ms X and Mrs Y could have complained to the Council and then us in 2022 about Mrs Y’s move into a care home and about the fall she suffered, as they had sufficient information at the time to know they wished to complain.
10. Ms X and Mrs Y received the relevant information to understand Mrs Y’s charges for care in March and April 2023. At this time they had sufficient information to know they wished to complain, as they understood her charges for care would be higher than they previously believed.
11. The representative who brought this complaint to us told us Ms X and Mrs Y sought support to complain after unsuccessfully trying to discuss the matter with the Council. The representative says Ms X and Mrs Y found out about further issues when they came to that service for support. However, in any event they had contacted the support service more than 12 months before ultimately bringing their complaint to us.
12. After contacting the support service and making a complaint to the Council in January 2024, the complainants asked the Council to hold off issuing a response until they had received and considered its response to their information request. They asked the Council to commence its investigation in August 2024. The Council issued its complaint response in November 2024, and then the complainants referred the matter to us four months later, in March 2025.
13. It is not necessary for complainants to have a complex understanding of the law before bringing complaints to us. Nor is it necessary to go on a fact-finding mission before contacting us. It is for us to obtain the necessary information once we are aware of the matter and to determine whether there has been fault. When there is delay in bringing a complaint to us, we cannot carry out as fair an investigation and this is the reason the law places a time limit on complaints being brought to us. There is not good reason in this case for the delay in the matter being brought to the Ombudsman.
14. It is open to Ms X and Mrs Y to refer their complaint about requests for information to the Information Commissioner, as the body that deals with complaints about how organisations handle people’s data.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate Ms X and Mrs Y’s complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in the complaint being made to the Council and then us.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman