Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to investigate Mrs X’s concerns about its actions relating to an adopted person. The complaint relates to matters which occurred over 12 months ago, and it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision, not to consider it.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained to the Council about its failure to safeguard her adopted son, Y, as a Looked after Child from the early 2000’s onwards. Mrs X said this left her with lasting trauma.

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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)
4. 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))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. I have read the correspondence Mrs X sent to us and understand this will have been a challenging and difficult experience for her to complain to us.
8. In 2024, Mrs X complained to the Council about her concerns relating to Y from the early 2000’s onwards. The Council told Mrs X they would not investigate, because the matters were historical. It offered to provide Mrs X with more information about Y’s adoption. The children’s statutory complaint procedure allows the Council to decline to take a complaint about matters which have occurred more than 12 months before a complaint was raised with it. It can do so, provided it explains its reasons why it has decided this, and does so on a case-by-case basis. The Council wrote to Mrs X, explained its reasons in her case and therefore it is unlikely we would find fault if we were to investigate its decision.
9. I have considered whether there are good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider Mrs X's complaint. The law, explained in paragraph three, says we should not investigate late complaints unless there are. Given these matters were occurring when Y was a child in the early 2000’s, I am not satisfied that a complaint could not have been made to us sooner. Therefore, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it’s a late complaint and there are no good reasons to consider it. It is also unlikely we would find fault the Council declined to consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman