Summary: We will not investigate AB’s complaint that the Council told the Police she and family members had not suffered any discrimination, hate crime, abuse or harassment. This is because the complaint is late, and another body is better placed to consider why the Police refused to take statements from her.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I have called AB, complained that Hampshire County Council told the Police that she and her family members had never suffered any discrimination, hate crime, abuse or harassment. AB said that, as a result, the Police would not take statements from her about the abuse.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. So we may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information AB provided. I considered AB’s comments on a draft of this decision. And I discussed the complaint with her.

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What I found

Background

6. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) may investigate complaints about the Police.

What happened

7. From 2014 onwards, AB contacted the Council about her brother and sister-in-law as she was concerned about the way they treated her and other family members.
8. AB alleges that the Council told the Police she and her family members had not suffered any discrimination, hate crime, abuse or harassment by her brother and sister-in-law. AB said that because of what the Council said, the Police refused to take statements from her about the abuse.
9. AB gave us a copy of an email from February 2018 in which she accused the Council of telling the Police she and her family members had not suffered any harassment or hate crime.
10. AB said the Police told her in the summer of 2018 they did not think her family had suffered any harassment.
11. AB complained to us in August 2019.

Assessment

12. We will not investigate this complaint.
13. AB alleged that the Council told the Police she and her family members had not suffered any abuse or harassment. She has known this since at least February 2018 when she emailed the Council about the matter. But she did not complain to us until August 2019. So the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.
14. In addition, it is a matter for the Police to decide what they will investigate, irrespective of what the Council may have told them. So, even if the complaint was not late, an investigation by us into the Council’s actions would not establish why the Police will not take statements from AB. The IOPC is better placed to do so.

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Final decision

15. We will not investigate AB’s complaint for the reasons given in the Assessment.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman