Derbyshire County Council (21 013 428)
Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 20 Jan 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to Mr X’s father’s finances. This is because it is a late complaint and there are no good reasons for us to investigate it now.
The complaint
- Mr X complains the Council failed to safeguard his father from financial abuse. Mr X says the Council’s actions have significantly affected his father’ finances and caused the family significant distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X raised concerns with the Council in 2019 and then complained in 2020. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaints and said it had passed concerns to the Office of the Public Guardian and concerns had also been reported to the Police. The Council sent Mr X letters in May and June 2020 advising him he could complain to the Ombudsman. Mr X did not raise a complaint with the Ombudsman until December 2021. Therefore, this is a late complaint.
- We have discretion to set aside this restriction where there are good reasons. I can see no reason why Mr X could not have raised his complaint with the Ombudsman sooner. The matters were also raised with both the police and Office of the Public Guardian at the time. Therefore I can see no good reason why the Ombudsman should investigate this complaint now.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is a late complaint and there is no good reason for us to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman