Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council stopping his direct payments in 2015. Mr X has known about the complaint for more than 12 months and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate the complaint now.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council stopped his direct payments in June 2015.
2. Mr X says his care and support needs are not being met due to the direct payments being stopped.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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

4. I have considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I have written to Mr X with my draft decision and considered his response.

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What I found

5. Mr X says the Council stopped his direct payments in June 2015 following receipt of an inheritance from his father.
6. The Council says that Mr X chose to stop his direct debit payments as he would be self-funding moving forwards.
7. The restriction outlined in paragraph three applies to this complaint because it concerns an issue in 2015. We have discretion to look into a complaint over 12 months when we decide there are good reasons. In this case, I have decided not to exercise discretion because:
• Mr X was aware of the issues in 2015 and has not provided any good reasons why he did not complaint to the Ombudsman within 12 months of knowing about the problem. It is reasonable to expect to have complained to us sooner; and
• The Council providing a response to the complaint in 2020 does not bring this matter within 12 months.

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Final decision

8. My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X has known about the complaint for more than 12 months and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to investigate the complaint now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman