Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (21 007 931)

Category : Children's care services > Child protection

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 11 Jan 2022

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement with the complainant and her family in 2014. This is because the events happened too long ago and I see no reason why the complaint could not have been raised sooner.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains about the involvement of the Council’s children’s services in 2014.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  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)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
  2. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

  1. I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the events happened too long ago. Miss X did raise a complaint with the Council at the time. However, if she was dissatisfied with the Council’s response, I see no reason why she could not have raised the matter with the Ombudsman sooner. It is too late for her to do so now.

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Final decision

  1. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because the events happened too long ago and I see no reason why she could not have raised the matters with the Ombudsman sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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