Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council has failed to deal with her complaint about support for her son. The complaints Mrs X has recently made to the Council do not specifically refer to matters within the past 12 months. There is thus insufficient evidence of fault to warrant investigation by us.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said a recent assessment by the Council was inadequate and that it wrongly declined to deal with her complaint.

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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. The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. In complaint 20 012 277, we found the matters Mrs X complained of concerning support for her son since 2017 were historic. At that time, she told us there had been a recent assessment of her son’s needs that was inadequate. In our decision statement for complaint 20 012 277, we advised Mrs X to complain to the Council first about this matter before returning to us if she was still dissatisfied. She has returned to us.
7. I asked the Council for the complaint it received from Mrs X. It said there were two in April and May 2021, and it sent me copies of both. Neither made any specific reference to a recent assessment of need or any other matter within 12 months of April 2021. Instead, they stated there had been three child protection referrals not dealt with at unspecified times in the past, and that the Council had failed to provide social care support for four years. It asked for an explanation of decisions since 2017. Given there were no recent matters specified in either complaint, I do not find any fault in the Council’s handling of them.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s responses to her recent complaints to warrant investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman