Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council failed to take appropriate action in response to concerns about the welfare of children and an adult. The complaint is late and there are insufficient grounds for the Ombudsman to consider it now.

The complaint

1. The complainants, Miss X and Mr X, complain that the Council was at fault in failing to take appropriate action in response to Miss X’s concerns about the welfare of Mr X and the children in his household.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainants.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. In 2023, Miss X reported concerns to the Council about the welfare of her brother Mr X, and children living with him. She complains that the Council failed to take proper action in response to her concerns and failed to carry out appropriate assessments.
6. Miss X says the Council’s failure to act on her concerns led to negative outcomes for those involved and family members. Specifically, she says the Council failed to enable Mr X to disclose the impact of his partner’s actions on his mental health. As a result, he has been alienated from his daughter and caused significant distress. This has had a significant impact on the wider family, as well as on Mr X and his daughter.
7. Miss X also complains about the Council’s response to her complaint about its actions. She says it refused to escalate the matter beyond the first stage of its complaints procedure.
8. The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X and Mr X’s complaint because it is late. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. The evidence Miss X has provided shows that she raised her concerns with the Council in June 2023 and that the Council ceased its involvement with the family in December 2023. The complaint to the Ombudsman about the Council’s response to Miss X’s concerns is therefore late.
9. Miss X did not complain to the Council until July 2024, more than a year after she raised her concerns. She was aware of the Council’s refusal to escalate the matter from that point and did not come to the Ombudsman for a further seven months. There are insufficient grounds for us to consider the complaint now.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman