Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to investigate Mrs X’s complaint about her care for a relative. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.

The complaint

1. In short, Mrs X complains about the Council’s refusal to investigate her complaint concerning financial support in connection with her care for a relative.

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

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My assessment

6. Mrs X contends the Council should have considered financial support for her when she looked after a family member from 2019.
7. The Council has told Mrs X it will not be investigating her complaint as it has been made too late for it to be investigated effectively. It says it concerns events from 2019, the Council has not been involved in her relative’s care since 2022, and relevant staff have left the Council’s employment.
8. We will not investigate as Mrs X’s complaint is caught by the time bar on the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. Mrs X has known about the matters complained of for over seven years before approaching the Ombudsman. And it seems Mrs X was aware of the Council’s complaints procedure as she made complaints about other matters in 2021 and 2022. I therefore see no good reasons for the Ombudsman to investigate as Mrs X was aware at the time of the matters she is raising now.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there are no good reasons to investigate.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman