Royal Borough of Greenwich (23 015 466)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 08 Feb 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the conduct of a Council social worker in relation to an investigation regarding Ms X and the Council’s decision to make a LADO referral. This is because the complaint concerns events that took place more than 12 months ago and it would have been reasonable for Ms X to refer this complaint to us at the time.
The complaint
- Ms X complained about the actions of a Council social worker when she was investigating allegations against Ms X. She also complained about the Council’s decision to make a LADO referral regarding her children.
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 Ms X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Ms X complained to the Council about the actions of a social worker during an investigation into allegations that had been made against her. She also complained about the Council’s decision to refer the matter to the LADO without informing her and the impact this had on her children.
- The Council advised it would not investigate the complaint because the investigation and referral took place in 2020. Ms X then opted to refer her complaint to the Ombudsman.
- The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate events that took place more than 12 months before the complainant became aware of them unless there are good reasons to do so. Having reviewed the evidence relating to this matter, it would have been reasonable for Ms X to bring this complaint to the Ombudsman at the time; there is no good reason to investigate matters that took place so long ago.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the complaint concerns events that took place more than 12 months ago and it would have been reasonable for Ms X to refer this complaint to us at the time.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman