Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council providing incorrect information about her son’s care costs. She says the Council told her he would not need to contribute anything. This is because her complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council provided incorrect information about her son’s care costs. She says the Council told her he would not need to contribute anything.

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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 the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mrs X’s son has eligible care and support needs. In December 2018, the Council completed a financial assessment which confirmed Mrs X’s son did not have to pay a contribution towards his care and support package.
6. In February 2019, due to a change in the Council’s charging policy, the Council completed a new financial assessment. The Council sent Mrs X a letter confirming her son now had to pay a contribution of just over £25 per week.
7. Further letters were sent to Mrs X between 2019 and 2023 confirming her son’s assessed contributions and the weekly amount he had to pay.
8. An investigation is not justified as Mrs X was made aware of her son’s assessed charges in 2019. Evidence provided by the Council also shows several letters have been sent to her between 2019 and 2023 to confirm how much her son needed to pay towards his care and support charges.
9. Therefore, Mrs X has been aware of the issue for more than 12 months and it was reasonable for her to have brought her complaint to us earlier if she was unhappy with her son’s assessed charges. I cannot see any good reasons for why she could not have complained earlier. Therefore, I will not exercise discretion to consider this late complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because her complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider the late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman