Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about her relative's care. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise our discretion and investigate.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council provided poor domiciliary care to her relative Mrs Y. Miss X says that this placed Mrs Y at risk and caused Miss X to suffer stress and anxiety.

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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)
3. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by Miss X.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X says there were problems with the standard of Mrs Y’s care from October 2022 until September 2023 and that she contacted the Council and its care provider many times about this. Miss X complained to us in February 2025.
7. Miss X first became aware of the reported problems with Mrs Y’s care more than 12 months before complaining to us February 2025. I see no good reasons why Miss X did not bring a complaint to us within 12 months of first becoming aware in October 2022, or at the latest within 12 months of September 2023. Therefore, we will not investigate the matters affecting Miss X.
8. Miss X has complained that Mrs Y was at risk due to the problems with her care. We are unclear whether Mrs Y had capacity to make a complaint in 2022 or later. However, Miss X was aware of the events and was acting on Mrs Y’s behalf in dealing with the Council and the care provider. I have seen no good reasons why a complaint was not brought to us within 12 months. Therefore, using our general discretion described in paragraph 3 above, it is not appropriate to investigate the matters affecting Mrs Y so long after the events.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint because it is late without good reason to try to investigate it now. There are no reasons to exercise our discretion and investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman