Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about care fees for Mrs X’s deceased mother, Mrs Y. The law says complaints should be made to us within 12 months. In any event, the substantive part of the complaint has been resolved and it is not proportionate for us to investigate complaints processes alone.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained about care charges the Council told her about after her mother (Mrs Y) passed away. She says the matter has caused significant inconvenience and distress, affecting her health. She wants the Council to answer her questions and pay her damages for the impact the matter had on her.

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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)
3. 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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs X’s complaint is about charges for Mrs Y’s care that she found out about in 2020, after Mrs Y had passed away. The law says people must bring complaints to us within 12 months unless there are good reasons.
7. I have considered the Council’s part in the timescales for the matter to be brought to the Ombudsman. I have also considered information Mrs X provided about her own health which impacted the timescales. However, there is not good reason for the three years it took from Mrs X becoming aware of the charges for her to complain to us. We advise complainants they can come to us if they do not receive a final response to their complaint within 12 weeks. We cannot now investigate the substantive part of Mrs X’s complaint.
8. In any event, the Council told Mrs X in 2021 it had written off Mrs Y’s charges. The substantive part of the complaint, in relation to the charges themselves, was resolved in 2021. We could not achieve anything further in relation to this.
9. It is not a good use of public resources for the Ombudsman to investigate complaints processes alone, where we are not investigating the substantive complaint. Therefore, we will not investigate the concerns Mrs X raises in relation to the complaints process.
10. The Ombudsman cannot award ‘damages’ in the way the courts can. For complainants who are seeking significant sums of compensation, we would usually direct them to the courts. It is open, therefore, to Mrs X to consider pursuing action in the courts, as an alternative way of achieving a meaningful remedy given that we will not be investigating the matter.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in her bringing the matter to the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman