Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about a safeguarding concern raised in 2022. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to consider now.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s responses to a safeguarding concern raised in 2022 concerning her family member, Miss X.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’ causing an injustice. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

5. I considered information provided by the complainant.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. A council must make enquiries if it thinks a person may be at risk of abuse or neglect and has care and support needs which mean the person cannot protect themselves. An enquiry is the action taken by a council in response to a concern about abuse or neglect. An enquiry could range from a conversation with the person who is the subject of the concern, to a more formal multi-agency arrangement. A council must also decide whether it or another person or agency should take any action to protect the person from abuse. (section 42, Care Act 2014)
8. Mrs X raised a complaint in 2023 to the Council saying she’d had no feedback on what happened with the safeguarding concern.
9. The Council replied saying Miss X had been advised the matter would be closed as the risk had been removed.
10. The Council admitted it could have communicated the outcome to Mrs X too (as a court appointed Deputy for Miss X). It reiterated the concerns did not need to progress to an investigation as the actions taken - information gathering, a site visit, liaison with other agencies – were proportionate.
11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of the person affected first becoming aware of the matter. Mrs X was aware of the matter at the relevant time, and I see no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and there are no good reasons to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman