Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Mr M’s finances. This is because the complaint is late and it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council.

The complaint

1. Mr Q has complained on behalf of his son, Mr M, about the way his finances have been managed. Mr Q believes Derbyshire County Council failed to manage Mr M’s money properly. He would like the Council to return Mr M’s missing money.

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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 may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mr Q provided. I considered the information the Council provided. I invited Mr Q to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

6. Mr M has mental health problems. In 2016 the Council decided he did not have the mental capacity to manage his finances. It decided he needed an appointee to do this for him. The DWP selected an appointee.
7. It later became apparent that the appointee was not acting in Mr M’s best interests. Some of his money went missing. In 2017 the Council contacted the DWP with its concerns about Mr M’s appointee. It also contacted the Police. And it arranged for a private money management company to take over Mr M’s appointeeship.
8. Mr Q complained about the Council’s handling of Mr M’s finances. Mr Q wants it to return Mr M’s missing money. The Council told Mr Q it did not select Mr M’s appointee, it does not have any of his money, and it has never taken control of his money.
9. Mr Q complained to us in 2020.

Analysis

10. We will not investigate this complaint.
11. The events complained of happened in 2016 and 2017 but Mr Q did not complain to us until 2020. So the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to consider it now.
12. In any event, the DWP selected Mr M’s appointee, not the Council. Therefore, the Council did not have control of Mr M’s finances. And, when it discovered there were problems with the appointee, it took appropriate steps to safeguard Mr M’s finances. So, even if the complaint were not late, we should not investigate it. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault with the Council.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint for the reasons given in the Analysis.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman