Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care charging. The complaint is late, and it was reasonable to expect Mrs X to have complained to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council was misleading and insensitive in applying charges for a relative’s care. Mrs X also said the Council did not respond to her family member’s complaint about this.
2. Mrs X said this caused distress.
3. Mrs X wants the Council to apologise, remove the disputed charges and investigate the complaint.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. 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

6. I considered information provided by Mrs X.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. A family member of Mrs X complained to the Council in 2020 about how it applied charges for the care of a relative.
9. Mrs X said the Council did not respond to the complaint and continues to pursue her for the charges for care.
10. The more time passes between the events and a complaint, the more unlikely it is we can investigate them effectively, gather reliable evidence and reach a sound decision. In older cases we also may not be able to achieve a meaningful remedy because too many circumstances have changed. We are often unable to be able to show why events occurred or understand who was responsible.
11. We cannot investigate this complaint. The complaint is late. It was reasonable to expect Mrs X to have complained to us sooner. I have considered all the information Mrs X has provided. However, I am not persuaded that we should disapply the law to investigate this complaint now.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late, and it was reasonable to expect her to have complained to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman