Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about payments to a personal assistant. This is because we cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons why someone could not have complained earlier.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has not paid her in full for care she provided to Ms Y. Ms X says this is unfair and has caused her frustration. She would like the Council to pay her what she feels she is owed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council agreed Ms X could act as a personal assistant for Ms Y, for a period of just over ten weeks in 2021. Ms X says the Council paid her around £4,000 for this but had agreed to pay her more.
6. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons why someone could not have complained earlier. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. Ms X was aware of the issue she has complained about in 2021, and I can see no good reason why she did not complain sooner. Therefore, we will not investigate her complaint now.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because we cannot investigate late complaints and there are no good reasons why she could not have complained earlier.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman