Summary: The Ombudsman will not consider Mr D’s complaint the Council failed to protect his parents from his sister. This is because the complaint is late, and there is not a good reason we should exercise discretion to investigate it.

The complaint

1. Mr D complained the Council failed to protect his parents from emotional and financial abuse by his sister. He also says the Council was hostile and biased in its consideration of his complaint. He says this has been extremely distressing.

Back to top

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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered all the information Mr D provided. I have also considered the Council’s response. I have written to Mr D with my draft decision and considered his comments.

Back to top

What I found

4. Mr D was in contact with the Council about his concerns over his sister’s behaviour and his parent’s safety from June 2015 to July 2018. He stopped contacting the Council after both his parents died. Mr D complained to the Council about its response to his concerns in March 2019.
5. Mr D received the Council’s complaint response in August 2019. He continued to speak with the Council about its response until he complained to the Ombudsman in December 2019.
6. Mr D says he did not complain to the Ombudsman until December 2019 because he was distressed by the events surrounding his parents’ treatment, was complaining to other organisations and did not know he could complain to the Council. He says he delayed making a formal complaint to the Council because he did not view the Council as hostile and biased until after the events surrounding his mother’s death in January 2019. He also says the time the Council took to respond to his complaint and his ongoing conversation with them after their final response added to the delay.
7. I have considered Mr D’s reasons for not complaining to us earlier, including the fact it took the Council five months to respond to his complaint. I do not consider these suitable reasons to exercise my discretion to investigate this complaint. The law says complaints to the Ombudsman must be made within 12 months. The 12 month period begins on “the day on which the personal representatives of the person affected first had notice of the matter”. Mr D was in regular contact with the Council between June 2015 and July 2018. He had concerns about his sister’s behaviour and his parents’ safety in 2015. It is reasonable to expect him to have complained about the Council’s actions at the time, because when his parents passed away it became impossible to remedy any injustice they might have experienced. Mr D could have then complained to the Ombudsman if he remained dissatisfied.

Back to top

Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because the complaint is late, and there is not a good reason we should exercise discretion to investigate it.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman