Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the level of Special Guardianship Allowance paid by the Council. This is because the events happened too long ago, and I see no reason why the complainant couldn’t have asked us to investigate sooner.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I will call Ms X, complains about the level of Special Guardianship Allowance the Council is paying her to look after her grandchild. Ms X says the payment should be increased and backdated to when it made its decision in October 2019.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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))
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 considered Ms X’s complaint and the Council’s responses.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. The complainant now has an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I will consider their comments before making a final decision.

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My assessment

7. Regulation 7 of the Special Guardianship Regulations 2005 allows foster payments to continue for a further two years if agreed in advance of an SGO. After that time a Special Guardianship Allowance is paid. The maximum allowance is currently set by the Government at £217 per week.
8. Ms X was previously a foster carer for her grandchildren. However, in February 2016 she successfully obtained a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) through the courts. It was agreed in court that foster payments would continue for two years and Ms X would then receive the Special Guardianship Allowance.
9. In October 2019, the Council noticed that Ms X was still in receipt of the foster payments and that she should have been transferred to a Special Guardianship Allowance in February 2018. It wrote to Ms X to inform her that it would be transferring her to a Special Guardianship Allowance at the maximum rate.
10. I will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. This is because the events happened too long ago. We expect people to raise their complaints within 12 months of what the Council did. The Council told Ms X she could complain to the Ombudsman in February 2020, but she did not do so until June 2021, some 16 months later. I see no reason why she could not have complained sooner.
11. Furthermore, I see no evidence of fault in how the Council has dealt with the matter. It had discretion to continue to pay the foster payments for a further 2 years. Its error meant that these payments continued past this date. However, when it realised its error, it corrected it and is now paying the Special Guardianship Allowance at the highest rate, a rate set by Government.

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Final decision

12. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because the events happened too long ago, and I see no reason why Ms X could not have complained sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman