Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to complete a children’s statutory complaint investigation in 2019. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider it now. We will not investigate the Council’s refusal to investigate the same complaint in 2025 because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant our involvement.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council did not complete a stage two children’s statutory complaint investigation in 2019 when she asked it to. She also complained the Council refused to investigate the same complaint when she asked it to in 2025.
2. Mrs X said the Council’s actions negatively impacted on her mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
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 there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (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 and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

8. Mrs X complained the Council did not complete a stage two investigation of a children’s statutory complaint she raised about its involvement with her family.
9. Mrs X said she contacted the Council in July 2019 to confirm she wanted the investigation to proceed, however the Council did not action this. Mrs X then contacted the Council, and the Ombudsman in November 2025 about the matter.
10. As outlined in paragraph four, we cannot investigate complaints without good reasons to do so. I have not seen any good reasons why Mrs X could not have contacted the Ombudsman about this matter sooner. For this reason, we will not investigate this part of her complaint.
11. The Council considered Mrs X’s request in November 2025 for the complaint to be investigated. However, the Council refused to investigate it.
12. The Council’s response suggests it considered whether it could reach a fair and reasonable outcome by investigating, as well as considering Mrs X’s reasons for a lack of contact since 2019.
13. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to refuse investigating the complaint in 2025 to warrant our involvement. Therefore, we will not investigate.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because part of it is late with no good reasons for us to consider it now and for the remainder there is not enough evidence of fault by the Council to warrant our involvement.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman