Lincolnshire County Council (25 011 082)
Category : Children's care services > Child protection
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 03 Dec 2025
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council dealt with her during its parental investigation. The complaint was submitted late, and there is no good reason to consider it now.
The complaint
- Miss X complains that the Council treated her unfairly through biased parenting assessments, disproportionate safety plans, and invasive questioning and not considering her complaint under the 12‑month exceptional circumstances rule.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- We normally expect someone to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner if they have a complaint about data protection. However, we may decide to investigate if we think there are good reasons. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X complains about how the Council handled her child’s case between November 2023 and April 2024. She raised these concerns 12 months after the incident. She says stress and trauma caused by the Council’s involvement delayed her being able to raise her complaint.
- I will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. Her concerns relate to events more than 12 months old, and I see no good reason why she could not have complained sooner. I note that Miss X was able to raise concerns with the Council about related matters in May and I see no good reason why she could not have also made this complaint at the same time.
- Miss X also complains about data protection breaches by a Council social worker. The Information Commissioner is better placed to consider her concerns about a data breach.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is made late and there is no good reason to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman