Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council failed to safeguard her mother. That is because the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to safeguard her now deceased mother, Ms E. Ms X said she made safeguarding referrals from 2019 until 2021 about the care Ms E received from a family member. She said the Council did not speak to Ms E on her own following the referral in 2021.
2. Ms X said the Council’s failings have caused her significant distress and meant Ms E lived without dignity.

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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. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, and
• 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. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council failed to properly safeguard Ms E. That is because the complaint is late. The Council completed its safeguarding enquiries in 2021. Ms X did not complain the Ombudsman until June 2023. It was reasonable for Ms X to complain to us sooner if she was unhappy with the Council’s decision.
9. In any event, even if this complaint was not late, we would not investigate. I am satisfied the Council fully considered the concerns Ms X raised. There is not enough evidence of fault in how the Council acted to justify our involvement.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman