Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s decision to manage Miss Y’s daughter Miss X’s finances. This is because the complaint relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable for Miss Y to bring the complaint to us at the time.

The complaint

1. Miss Y complained that the Council has removed her as an appointee in charge of managing her daughter Miss X’s finances.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss Y and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss Y’s daughter Miss X is disabled; Miss Y acts as her carer.
7. In June 2021 the Council carried out a mental capacity assessment for Miss X and found she lacked capacity to manage her finances. The Council then allocated a local authority appointee to oversee Miss X’s finances as a safeguarding measure.
8. Miss Y complained to the Council in early 2024, because she had previously managed Miss X’s finances and she was unhappy with the Council's actions. The Council did not uphold the complaint, stating it had carried out an assessment in line with the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and it was satisfied that it was necessary to safeguard Miss X’s finances. Miss Y brought the complaint to the Ombudsman as she was unhappy with the Council’s response.
9. The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate complaints about events that took place more than 12 months ago unless there are good reasons for the delay. In this case, the Council made the decision to manage Miss X’s finances in 2021, over three years ago. It would therefore have been reasonable for Miss X to bring this complaint to us at the time. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate matters that took place this long ago.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss Y’s complaint because the complaint relates to events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable le for Miss Y to bring the complaint to us at the time.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman