Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling and decision to end a fostering placement. The complaint is late and we are unlikely to add anything to the investigation the Council carried out or achieve the outcomes Mrs X wants.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the way in which the Council dealt with her complaints and removed two foster children from her long-term care. Mrs X says the whole experience with the Council has been traumatic, distressing and has caused her significant financial loss. She believes the Council has been negligent and has breached its duty of care to her and the children involved. She wants the Council to take accountability and acknowledge its failings. She also wants the Council to provide her with financial compensation.

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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. We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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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. The statutory children’s complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough and prompt response to their concerns. Because of this, if a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it.
7. Mrs X and her family fostered two children from 2018 to 2022. She made a stage one complaint under the above statutory procedure in February 2022, shortly before the foster placement ended.
8. We usually expect people to complain to us within 12 months of the events they are complaining about. The Council concluded its consideration of Mrs X’s complaints under stage three of the statutory process in February 2023. This included the complaint elements summarised in paragraph 1 above and other issues. The Council’s final response provided details on how Mrs X could escalate her complaint to us if she remained dissatisfied. There appear no good reasons why Mrs X could not have brought her concerns to us sooner.
9. Even if we were to exercise discretion to investigate this late complaint, it is unlikely we could add anything meaningful to the Council’s investigation or response.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late. We cannot add to the Council’s investigation or provide the outcomes the complainant wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman