Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s actions regarding her relationship with her daughter. The complaint is largely outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction on the 12 month rule. Mrs X is complaining late and there is nothing to achieve by investigating.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to provide help for two years when she had relationship difficulties with her daughter, Miss Y. She says if the Council had given respite or effective help the breakdown of her relationship with her daughter, during the summer of 2018, could have been avoided.
2. Mrs X complains the Council arranged for Miss Y to live with her father. Later in 2018, it closed the case without telling her and failed to help her rebuild the relationship with her daughter. Mrs X says she does not have contact with her daughter. The Council has advised it cannot help her and she can consider going to court.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered Mrs X’s information and comments and discussed the complaint with her by telephone. I have considered the Council’s complaint correspondence.

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What I found

6. Mrs X tells me there is an old court order that says her daughter resides with her with contact to the father. She tells me she had difficulties with her teenage daughter who she sometimes hit. The Council’s social worker would visit but did not offer effective help. In July and August 2018 there was a crisis and Mrs X told the Council she could no longer cope with her daughter. The Council spoke to Miss Y’s father. It arranged for Miss Y to live temporarily with Mrs X’s sister for two weeks. She then moved to her father, who lives outside the Council’s area, where she remains.
7. On 14 September 2018 the Council’s social worker telephoned Mrs X. The Council says it understood that Mrs X did not want to see her daughter. Mrs X tells me she told the social worker “not yet”. She did not want to see Miss Y because she would want to come home and because that could put them both in “a dangerous situation”.
8. On 17 October 2018 the Council’s duty social worker told Mrs X that the case had been transferred to the local authority in whose area Mr X and Miss Y live. In February 2019, following another contact from Mrs X, the Council told her it had closed the case on 4 December.
9. On 24 June 2019 senior officers of the Council met with Mrs X and two friends at her home. Mrs X says she complained to the officers about the handling of the case and they told her they would investigate.
10. On 16 December 2019 the Council replied to Mrs X’s complaint. It apologises for failing to write to her and tell her at the time that it had closed the case. It says the decision to close was reasonable given the degree of breakdown, the historical concerns, and Miss Y being with her father. The Council says it has, as a gesture of goodwill, spoken and written to the father. However, he does not want Miss Y to have contact with Mrs X until she has completed her education. The Council has advised Mrs X she can consider her court option.
11. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman on 4 October. She tells me she blames the Council for the breakdown with her daughter. She says she cannot afford to go to court and wants the Council to pay. She says her sister has suggested that she wait until Miss Y is eighteen because she is safe and settled. However, Mrs X believes the situation at the father’s is changing and her daughter wants to return to her care.

Analysis

12. I will not investigate this complaint for the following reasons:
13. Most of the complaint is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction on the 12 month rule (see paragraph 4 above). Mrs X complains late. This includes Miss Y’s move to her father, the weeks after that move, and the complaint about lack of help in the years before.
14. I will not exercise discretion to investigate because:
1. Mrs X could have complained sooner especially regarding the lack of support when she was caring for her daughter.
2. There is nothing that can be achieved by investigation. The Council is not responsible for Miss Y who lives outside its area and is not on a court order. The father opposes contact. If Mrs X wants contact or to resume care of her daughter, and this cannot be agreed, she will need to consider her legal options or wait until her daughter contacts her.
15. The Council has apologised to Mrs X for not informing her that it had closed the case and has explained its position. There are no grounds for the Ombudsman to ask it to do more.

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Final decision

16. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s actions regarding her relationship with her daughter. The complaint is largely outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction on the 12 month rule. Mrs X is complaining late and there is nothing to achieve by investigating.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman