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
- The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains about the involvement of the Council’s children’s services in 2014.
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
- 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.
Final decision
- 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.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman