Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council responded to Miss X’s referral. This is because part of the complaint is late, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council discharged her from its welfare rights service during an appeal. She said she had been denied help from the welfare rights service. She wanted the Council to accept future referrals to the welfare rights service and allocate her a caseworker when needed.

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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 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• 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

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

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My assessment

6. The Council runs a welfare rights service which provides independent advice to local residents with matters such as benefit claims, appeals and tribunals.
7. The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place more than 12 months prior to the complainant becoming aware of them. In this case, Miss X complained about the issue in May 2025. I have decided not to exercise discretion to look at matters before May 2024 because it is reasonable to expect Miss X to have complained to us about the matter sooner.
8. Miss X complained the Council discharged her from its welfare rights service during an appeal.
9. In its complaint response, the Council told Miss X she had not been discharged from the welfare rights service. It said it could not accept Miss X’s referral to the service in August 2024 because high demand meant the service was focussed on those considered most vulnerable, and in need of support to challenge a negative decision. The Council signposted Miss X to other advice agencies. The Council said it checked with one of the agencies that it could support Miss X to complete her form.
10. In response to enquiries, the Council confirmed the process its welfare advice service used to categorise the priority of incoming referrals, and arrangements for signposting to other services.
11. We will not investigate this complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. The Council confirmed it had not discharged Miss X from the welfare rights service, but it had not been able to accept her referral in August 2024. It followed its procedures to signpost Miss X to suitable alternative sources of assistance.
12. In its complaint response, the Council told Miss X that she was still eligible to access the welfare rights service, and it would consider any future referrals.
13. We will not investigate this complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. The Council confirmed that it would consider Miss X’s future referrals to the welfare rights service.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late, there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman