Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about care charges sought by the Council from the late Mrs Y’s estate, nor its handling of and responses to her complaint. The charging complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now. We do not investigate councils’ complaint-handling where we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X is the daughter-in-law of the late Mrs Y and an executor of her estate. Mrs Y received reablement care in 2021. Mrs X complains the Council:
1. failed to tell Mrs Y’s family in 2021 that part of her care home stay would be chargeable, or what the charges would be;
2. cancelled an assessment appointment, delaying Mrs Y’s return home by three days and adding to the care charge;
3. has failed in its complaint responses to explain why the care was chargeable.

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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 from Mrs X and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

4. Mrs X has known about the core charging matter since at least 2022. She says she has been in contact with the Council about it on and off for over two years. Mrs X brought her complaint to us in June 2024.
5. We expect people to complain to us about something they believe a council has done wrong within 12 months of them becoming aware of the matter complained of. Any complaint made 12 months after someone knows about a complaint issue is late. As Mrs X knew about the care charge matter she has complained about for at least two years before raising it with us, the complaint is late.
6. We may decide to investigate a late complaint if we consider there are good reasons to do so. Mrs X’s previous correspondence with the Council for over two years shows she would have been able to make a complaint about the charging matter sooner and in time. Any lack of knowledge of the Ombudsman is not a good reason for us to exercise discretion to investigate late complaints because we have existed for 50 years and information about our service is publicly available. There is insufficient evidence of any action or inaction by officers here causing Mrs X’s complaint to us to be late. There are no good reasons to justify us exercising our discretion to investigate the care charge issues now so we will not do so.
7. We note Mrs X has also complained about the Council’s responses to her complaint in early 2024. We do not investigate council complaint-handling in isolation where we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to the complaint. It is not a good use of our resources to do so. That limitation applies here so we will not investigate this part of the complaint.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because:
• the core care charges complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now;
• we do not investigate council complaint-handling where we are not investigating the core issue which gave rise to the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman