Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council’s safeguarding officers visiting Mr X in 2023. This is because there is not a good reason for the delay in the complaint matters being brought to us.

The complaint

1. In short, Mr X is unhappy with the actions of social workers who visited him at home three times in 2023 apparently after a safeguarding concern was raised. Mr X says the safeguarding concern was raised maliciously and it has caused him and his family great distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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. 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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is another body better placed to consider this complaint. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mr X complains about receiving a letter from the Council in August 2023 mentioning a ‘referral’. He says he was then visited three times by Council officers during 2023 and this caused disruption and distress to him and his whole family. Mr X says he was never told by the Council what the safeguarding concerns were.

8. Mr X goes on to list more recent events that concern him. He says in 2025 he was informed by the NHS that the safeguarding concerns had been added to his NHS records. Mr X says he is concerned these reports will be treated as factual rather than ‘inaccurate and harmful’. Finally, Mr X is concerned with the way the Council has handled his request for information under the Subject Access Requests (SAR) procedure and its failure to inform him who triggered the safeguarding concerns.
9. The law says people must bring complaints to us within 12 months of finding out about the matter. The matters Mr X complains about occurred in 2023 and he was aware of the Council’s involvement at that time. The 12 months began in 2023 at the latest, when Mr X had sufficient concern to complain.
10. We will not investigate as Mr X’s complaint is caught by the time bar on the Ombudsman’s remit. Mr X could have registered his complaint with us from 2024. I see no good reason for the delay in the matter being brought to us in May 2025 and we will therefore not investigate the matter now.
11. I have considered if there are more recent actions we could investigate. However, we have no remit to investigate the sole actions of external organisations such as the NHS. Further, we will not investigate complaints about Subject Access Requests as these are better dealt with by the Office of the Information Commissioner as the UK’s regulator for information rights.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in the matter being brought to the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman