Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a disputed invoice for his care provision. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that since 2022, the Council has told him he owes over £1200 in care charges. Mr X says this is incorrect and he has evidence to show the Council owes him a refund of over £1500.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X complained to the Council about this matter, which he first became aware of in 2022, in January 2023. The Council issued its final response to his complaint in February 2023. The Council’s final response signposted Mr X to this office if he remained dissatisfied with its response.
8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of the person affected first becoming aware of the matter. Mr X has been aware of this matter since 2022 and was clearly signposted to this office over two years ago. The Council also provided Mr X with information about our service which set out the 12 month timeframe for making a complaint to us. I see no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider this very late complaint now, so long after Mr X first became aware of the matter.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and there are no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman