Worcestershire County Council (21 004 393)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 Aug 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement with the complainants family. This is because the events happened too long ago.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will call Miss C, complains about the Council’s children’s services involvement with her family in 2012 and 2013.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss C complains about the Council’s children’s services involvement with her family in 2012 and 2013.
- I will not investigate this complaint because the events happened too long ago. I see no reason why Miss C could not have complained about these matters to the Council, and subsequently the Ombudsman, sooner.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss C’s complaint because the events happened too long ago.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman