Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s involvement with Mr Y. This is because most parts of the complaint are late and therefore outside our jurisdiction. And there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now. Additionally, of the part that is not late, the Council has apologised and taken steps to prevent a recurrence of the fault, therefore further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that the Council had failed to act reasonably when dealing with her father’s, Mr Y, care and associated fees. She said this included:
1. Failing to provide an acceptable quality of care;
2. a 16-month delay in informing her about the care fees;
3. Mr Y being unable to consent to the fees, and;
4. the Council’s communication about the matter.
2. Mrs X said this caused her to be distressed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

8. The matters relating to complaints a)-c) are events ranging from July 2019 until November 2023.
9. The time for receiving complaints is from when someone became aware of the matter they wished to complain about, not when they complained to the Council or it issued its final response. We would expect someone to complain to us within a year, even if they were dissatisfied with the time the complaints procedure was taking. I will not be investigating those complaints highlighted at paragraph eight, as it is a late complaint, and I have not seen any evidence of good reasons why any of these issues were not raised within 12 months of the concern arising, which for some issues was no later than 2023.
10. Of complaint d), the Council accepted its communication was poor and that letters the Council sent in March 2024 and February 2025 were sent to the wrong address and therefore it was unlikely she would have seen these.
11. However, we will not investigate this part of her complaint. The Council has acknowledged its error, apologised and taken steps to prevent recurrence. Therefore, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because most of it was a late complaint and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now. And for the remainder of the complaint, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome as the Council has apologised and taken steps to prevent recurrence.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman