Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the refusal of the Council to reassess whether Miss X’s children might live with her. Their residence was decided by a court order, and it would be reasonable for Miss X to return to court. The complaint is also late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to consider it now.

The complaint

1. Miss X said the Council persuaded her to agree to a special guardianship order (SGO) is respect of her children in 2017. She said it promised to review the situation in 12 to 18 months, but it did not do so. She said this waiting period and the Covid-19 pandemic prevented her from complaining sooner.

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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. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
4. 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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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. Miss X’s children’s residence was decided by a court. Only a court can change that. Miss X has a right to go to court it would be reasonable to use.
8. Even if that were not so, the complaint is late. Even if it was reasonable for her to wait for 12-18 months, and even if the Council’s decision dated from the last day of 2017, the latest when it would have been clear that the Council did not intend to return Miss X’s children would have been mid-2019. That would have been nine months before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and over two years before she approached us. Miss X was aware of the matter she complains of significantly more than 12 months before she complained to us, and she could have complained much sooner. There would thus be no good reason to consider the complaint even if it were not otherwise reasonable for her to return to court.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because:

• She has a right to go to court it would be reasonable to use; and
• The complaint is late, without a good reason to exercise discretion to consider it.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman