Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged discrimination towards Mr X when it was involved with his family. This is because the complaint relates to matters that took place more than 12 months ago and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate them now. Further, even if we did exercise discretion an investigation would be unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained that Council social work reports included inaccurate information and he was discriminated against when the Council was involved with him and his family.

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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. 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)
4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 3)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mr X first complained to the Council in January 2022 about the conduct of social workers involved with his family regarding child protection measures instigated by the Council.
8. He raised several complaints including that the Council social workers excluded him due to his gender and recorded inaccurate details in their reports.
9. The Council investigated the complaint in line with children’s statutory complaints process and did not uphold most of his complaints. However, the stage 3 panel made a series of recommendations which included allowing Mr X to provide evidence of the incorrect case records and training for social workers regarding gender issues.
10. Mr X remains unhappy with the Council’s actions. The Ombudsman will not usually investigate complaints about matters that took place more than 12 months ago unless there are good reasons to do so. The Council has investigated the complaints raised by Mr X and made proportionate recommendations in line with the Ombudsman’s approach. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s investigation. An investigation would therefore be unlikely to lead to a different approach.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the complaint relates to matters that took place more than 12 months ago and there is no good reason to exercise investigation. Further, even if we did exercise discretion an investigation would be unlikely to lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman