Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s consideration of a safeguarding matter relating to the complainant’s children. The complaint is late and there are insufficient grounds for us to consider it now.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains that the Council was at fault in its consideration of a safeguarding matter relating to his children.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. Mr X’s children were the subject of a Children and Family Assessment following a safeguarding referral. Mr X believes the assessment was flawed and contained inaccurate information. He further complains that the Council has failed to explain its decision to close the case.
7. Mr X made a formal complaint to the Council in December 2023. He complains that the Council’s response was unreasonably delayed and that the financial remedy the Council offered in recognition of this delay is inadequate.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months from the date on which they knew about a matter to complain to us. The correspondence shows that he has been aware of the content of the assessment since October 2023. His complaint to the Ombudsman is therefore late and there are insufficient grounds for us to consider it now.
9. Where a matter does not fall to be investigated, we will not normally consider whether there was fault in the way a council responded to a complaint about it. It is not a good use of our resources to do so. That is the case here. As we will not investigate the substantive matter, we will not consider how the Council responded to Mr X’s complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late and there are insufficient grounds to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman