London Borough of Newham (21 014 241)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 Jan 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in connection with the placement of the complainant’s sister’s children. The complaint is late and there are no grounds for us to investigate it now.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Mrs B, complains that the Council was at fault in its actions in connection with the placement of her sister’s children.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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
- Mrs B says the police placed her sister’s two children with her in 2019. She says she was unable to care for both children for more than a few days, and felt the Council placed unreasonable pressure on her to keep them both. She further complains that social workers failed to take account of her circumstances and were rude to her.
- Mrs B says the Council completed a viability assessment of her as a carer for one child. She complains that the assessment was inaccurate and that she was not given sufficient time to comment before the matter went before the Court.
- We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it is late. The evidence Mrs B has provided shows the events took place in 2019 and the Council’s initial response to her complaint was made in 2020. Late complaints are where someone takes more than 12 months to come to us. This restriction applies to Mrs B’s complaint and there are no grounds for us to accept it now.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because it is late and there are no grounds to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman