Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the involvement of the Council’s children’s services team with his family. This is because the complaint is late, and we could not now carry out a meaningful investigation.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the involvement of the Council’s children’s services team with his family in the 1990s.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he provided. I also gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on a draft statement before reaching a final decision on his complaint.

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What I found

5. Mr X’s complaint is about the actions of social workers in the 1990s. The Ombudsman normally expects people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. We look at each complaint individually, and on its merits, considering the circumstances of each case. But we do not exercise discretion to accept a late complaint unless there are clear and compelling reasons to do so. I do not consider that to be the case here. I see no reason Mr X could not have complained much earlier, and so the exception at paragraph 2 applies to his complaint. In reaching this decision I have taken into account the point I make below.
6. Even if the Ombudsman were to investigate Mr X’s complaint, it is unlikely we could ever carry out any kind of meaningful investigation. Too much time has now passed for us to be able to reach a safe conclusion about what happened.

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Final decision

7. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because the complaint is late, and we could not now carry out a meaningful investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman