Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about alleged historic child abuse due to perceived wrongdoing by the Council. This is because the issues being raised our historical and Mr P could reasonably take court action to achieve a remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant (Mr P) complains about alleged historic child abuse he suffered as a child which left him homeless, vulnerable and without suitable education. He says this was due to Council failings, including corruption and other wrongdoing. He says the Council’s responses to him have been dismissive and neglectful and that intends to take legal action.
2. In summary, Mr X says the alleged fault breached his human rights and caused him to suffer significant hardship throughout his life. As a desired outcome, he wants the Council provide compensation and to be held ac-countable for the alleged failings.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. 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).

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. The legal restriction I outline at paragraph three (above) inserts a time limit for a member of the public to bring their complaint to the attention of the Ombudsman. Its intention is two-fold: to provide us with the best opportunity of arriving at a robust, evidence-based decision on complaints about recent events and to ensure fairness by enabling us to decline an investigation into historic matters, which could and should have formed the basis of a complaint to us far sooner.
7. The complaint concerns events when Mr P was a child which was over twenty years ago. The complaint is therefore historical and it is not the role of the Ombudsman to investigate historical matters. I consider the following:
1. There would be difficulties in establishing the material facts with reasonable confidence and gathering sufficient evidence to reach a sound judgement.
2. We cannot apply current standards, guidance, or professional expectations to historical situations. It is therefore likely to be more difficult to reach a firm and fair conclusion on whether-er there was maladministration in Mr P’s case.
3. It is likely to be more difficult to achieve a meaningful remedy in Mr P’s case, given the length of time that has already passed, the difficulty in establishing causality over longer time periods, and changes in the situation of the parties.
8. For these reasons, I do not consider that there is a realistic prospect of reaching a sound, fair, and meaningful decision relating to Mr P’s historical allegations. We will not therefore investigate on this basis.
9. In any event, Mr P is seeking a large sum of compensation on account of negligence by the Council. Deciding about whether an organisation has been negligent usually involves looking rigorously, and in a structured way at evidence as only the court can to make its findings. In addition, only a court can decide if an organisation has been negligent and so should pay damages. We cannot recommend actions or payments that ‘punish’ the organisation. I cannot decide whether an organisation has been negligent and have no powers to enforce an award of damages Mr P has informed the Council of his intention to take legal action. In these circumstances, I would expect Mr P to seek a payment of compensation and the outcome he desires as part of those intended proceedings.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the issues being raised our historical and Mr P could reasonably take court action to achieve a remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman