Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s assessment of his son’s social care needs and its decision to reduce a package of support. That is because the complaint is late.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council’s social care assessment for his child, Y, contained inaccuracies. He said that resulted in the Council reducing Y’s social care support despite his social care needs not changing.
2. Mr X is also unhappy with how the Council considered his complaint under the Childrens Statutory Complaints Procedure. He said at stage two, the Investigating Officer failed to consider the evidence he provided, and relied on the Council’s case records which contained incorrect information. He said the Council then failed to comply with the stage three Panel’s recommendations.
3. Mr X wants the Council to reinstate funding for Y to receive additional night-time support. He wants the Council to correct factual inaccuracies in Y’s assessment and case records.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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)
5. 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

6. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
7. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
8. Mr X had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered his comments before making a final decision.

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My assessment

9. The Council reviewed Y’s social care assessment in 2018. Following that, it decided to reduce the amount of night-time support it provided Y. Mr and Mrs X complained. They said the assessment was based on inaccurate information and that Y’s needs had not changed. They said Y’s Education Health and Care plan specified that Y needed five nights support a week.
10. The Council considered the complaint through the statutory complaint’s procedure. It issued a stage two response in June 2020 and sent a final stage three response in October 2021. It did not uphold the complaint about Y’s assessment or the revised level of support.
11. Mr X did not complain to the Ombudsman until September 2022. Therefore, his complaints about Y’s assessment and the stage two investigation are late. We have discretion to set aside this restriction where we decide there are good reasons. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion because it was reasonable for Mr X to have complained to us sooner.
12. In its stage three response, the Council agreed it would consider Mrs X’s health needs when it next assessed Y’s needs. It said it would review support packages for children with additional needs annually. The Council completed a review of Y’s child in need plan in November 2021 and February 2022. Those reviews referred to Mrs X’s needs. Therefore, there is not enough evidence the Council failed to carry out the stage three recommendations to justify investigating. If Mr and Mrs X disagree with the support specified in the child in need review, or how the Council considered Mrs X’s needs, it is reasonable for them to make a new complaint to the Council.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the substantive complaint is late.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman