London Borough of Lambeth (24 022 555)
Category : Adult care services > Safeguarding
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 19 Aug 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to the complainant’s safeguarding referral. Part of the complaint is late and there is no good reason the complainant could not have come to us sooner. It is unlikely an investigation would find fault with the Council for more recent events.
The complaint
- Dr X complained that the Council failed to act on safeguarding referrals they made about a neighbour in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025. Dr X says the neighbour is vulnerable and needs help.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Dr X made safeguarding referrals to the Council about a neighbour. We will not investigate how the Council dealt with the referrals in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Dr X knew about the matter more than 12 months before complaining to us. The restriction in paragraph two therefore applies. There is no good reason Dr X could not have complained to us sooner.
- The Council considered a new safeguarding referral in 2025. I have reviewed the Council’s actions and it is unlikely we would find fault if we were to investigate. The Council has taken the actions we would expect to respond to the referral appropriately.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Dr X’s complaint because part of the complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now. It is unlikely we would find fault with the Council for more recent events.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman