Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about alleged criminal behaviour against her when she lived in Council provided temporary accommodation from 2006 onwards. The complaint lies outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction because it is late. The Ombudsman cannot investigate complaints about crime.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains she was subject to sexual, emotional, and financial abuse, by a member of staff, when she moved to Council provided bed and breakfast accommodation in 2006.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
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)
4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Ms X provided. I also considered the information the Council provided. I sent Ms X a draft of my decision and invited her comments on it.

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What I found

6. Ms X complains she was the victim of sexual, emotional, and financial abuse, from 2006 when she moved into Council provided bed and breakfast accommodation. Ms X says she was groomed by a member of staff there.
7. The Council became aware of the allegations in 2016, when the police were investigating them. The police investigation at this time did not progress further due to insufficient evidence.
8. The Council informed Ms X, via her councillor, this was not a matter it would consider via its complaints procedure. This is because the allegations were best considered by the police. It offered support should Ms X wish to report it further to the police and provided the relevant signposting should she wish to complain about the police’s investigation.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate this complaint. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of a person first becoming aware of the matter.
10. There are no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider this very late complaint now because even if this complaint were made in time we would not consider it. This is because this is a complaint about alleged criminal behaviour. Crime is not something we can consider and decide. It is a matter for the police to investigate and ultimately the courts to decide.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman