Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint that the Council has underpaid the complainant, a foster parent, since 2012. This is because it is a late complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Ms X, says the Council has underpaid her since she took responsibility for a child in 2012. Ms X wants compensation and more financial support.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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

4. I read the complaint and responses the Council sent to Ms X in 2017. I invited Ms X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

5. Ms X was a carer for people with disabilities. In 2009 she started to support a mother and child. In 2012 the mother moved to a care home. It was agreed that it would be in the child’s best interests to stay with Ms X on a long-term basis.
6. The Council paid a fostering allowance to Ms X. It also decided to compensate Ms X for loss of earnings, for six months after the court granted a Special Guardian Order (SGO) to Ms X in 2013. This was because, for the first six months, Ms X needed to focus on the child. After six months Ms X was free to work. The Council also paid an SGO allowance to Ms X. It paid this at the same rate as the allowance paid to foster carers, minus the child benefit that Ms X received.
7. Ms X contacted the Council in 2017. She said she was in financial difficulty. The Council decided to pay Ms X an extra £112 a week in addition to the SGO allowance and it increased the allowance due to the child’s age. It also decided to pay £8637 because it accepted Ms X could not work for five months before the SGO was issued in 2013. The Council also paid £1000 so Ms X could have a holiday. In 2017 and 2018 the Council offered Ms X an assessment to see if she needed further support. Ms X did not accept this offer. In addition, the Council reviews the SGO allowance every year.
8. The Council declined Ms X’s request for £100,000 for housing support. Ms X requested this help because, in 2007, a friend had given Ms X money for her home. The Council decided it was not required to help with this because the friend gave the money to Ms X before the child was born or had any involvement with Ms X.
9. Ms X says she has been underpaid since 2012. She says she may lose her home and cannot meet the needs of the child. Ms X wants the Council to pay a backdated allowance and compensation.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Ms X says she has been underpaid as a foster carer since 2012. But, she did not complain to the Ombudsman until 2020. If Ms X thought she was being underpaid then it is reasonable to expect she would have complained in 2013, or in 2017 after the Council agreed extra payments. I have not seen any good reason to accept such a late complaint. In reaching this view I have taken into account that Ms X is receiving the same allowance as foster carers, has been given additional payments and has been offered an assessment to see if she requires additional support.

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Final decision

11. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman