Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about Mr X’s late brother’s supported accommodation. There is not a good reason for the delay in them bringing the complaint to us.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council placed his brother (Mr Y) in inappropriate supported accommodation between late 2022 and early 2024. His concerns included other residents’ drug use and one placement being a significant distance from the family. Mr X said the Council failed to respond when he and his mother raised concerns.
2. Mr X said Mr Y was at risk of exploitation and relapsed into addiction. He said his brother was hospitalised, ultimately leading to police involvement, hospitalisation, and his death in August 2025.

Back to top

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)
4. 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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

7. Mr Y was placed by the Council in supported accommodation between 2022 and 2024. When he moved to the last placement arranged by this Council, in late 2023, Mr X and his mother raised concerns about its suitability. They say they received no response from the Council.
8. Mr Y was subsequently sectioned under the Mental Health Act in mid-2024. After this, he was placed by another local authority. Mr Y died in mid-2025.
9. Mr X then complained to the Council, and escalated his complaint to us in December 2025.
10. The law says people must complain to us within 12 months of finding out about the matter, unless there are good reasons. Mr X and his mother were concerned in late 2023 about Mr Y’s placement being unsuitable. They say they received no response from the Council. It was open to them at that point to raise a formal complaint, and they could have contacted us had the Council failed to respond.
11. The extent of the family’s claimed injustice may have become more evident after Mr Y’s death. However, there was a clear point in mid 2024 where the Council’s involvement (and therefore any potential fault in its actions) ended. Mr X was corresponding with NHS services in the months following that, and could also have raised a complaint to the Council, then us.
12. I have considered the family’s grief in the overall timescales; however they complained to the Council and us shortly after Mr Y’s death, so I cannot say this contributed to the overall delay between late 2023 and late 2025.
13. There is not a good reason for the delay in the matter being brought to our attention, and so we will not investigate this late complaint.
14. In any event, Mr X indicated he would be raising his concerns with the coroner, given his belief the events he complains of contributed to Mr Y’s death. Only the coroner can decide what factors contributed to Mr Y’s death. The coroner’s inquiry would supersede any investigation we could carry out, and we could not add anything meaningful in addition to that process.

Back to top

Final decision

15. We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in the matter being brought to us.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman