Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council’s actions when Mr X raised child protection concerns. There is not a good reason for the delay in Mr X escalating the matter to the Ombudsman and Mr X raised the matters in court. We also could not achieve the outcome he seeks.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to safeguard his children when he raised concerns about their mother in 2019. He said the children suffered harm in the intervening years. He complained the Council wrongly declined to investigate his complaint, saying it was late. He wants the social worker concerned to be prevented from working with children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
4. The courts have said we can decide not to investigate a complaint about any action by an organisation concerning a matter which the law says we cannot investigate. (R (on the application of M) v Commissioner for Local Administration [2006] EHWCC 2847 (Admin))
5. 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:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered information provided by the complainant.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mr X says he raised concerns about his children’s mother in 2019. He says he also made a complaint to the Council.
9. Mr X pursued private proceedings in the intervening period, and says the children were subsequently placed in care due to harm they had experienced while in their mother’s care. Mr X complained again to the Council, then us.
10. While the events between 2019 and present produced further information to support Mr X’s concerns, he had sufficient information in 2019 to escalate a complaint to the Ombudsman, given he says he was dissatisfied with the Council’s response to his concerns. There is not a good reason for the five-year delay in bringing a complaint to us. We will not investigate this late complaint.
11. We also cannot consider matters that have been considered in court. Mr X raised his concerns about the children’s mother in court. Even though the court’s role was not to consider the Council’s actions, they are too intertwined with the court proceedings, and we would not consider the complaint even if it were not late.
12. We cannot make recommendations relating to social workers’ registrations and so we could not achieve the outcome Mr X seeks, in any event. It is open to Mr X to contact Social Work England as the body that considers individual social workers’ practice.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in him complaining. In any event, the matters are too intertwined with court proceedings and we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman