Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about events between 1974 and 1986 when the complainant was under the care of social services (for children). This is because the Council has offered to work with the complainant to explore the issues.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, complains about events that occurred between 1974 and 1986 when he was a child under the care of the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. We can decide whether to start or discontinue an investigation into a complaint within our jurisdiction. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)
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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read the complaint and spoke to a manager at the Council. I considered an email Mr X sent in response to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

6. Mr X was a child, under the care of the Council, between 1974 and 1986. Mr X says he suffered various forms of abuse and harm during this time. He says his experiences as a child have caused great hardship to him as an adult. He wants compensation from the Council.

Assessment

7. The Ombudsman normally only investigates a complaint once it has completed the Council’s complaints procedure. The Council does not want to deal with this as a complaint due to the historic nature of the allegations. The time that has passed, the probable lack of records, and the changes in rules and regulations mean it is unlikely that either the Council or the Ombudsman could carry out an effective investigation.
8. However, the Council has offered to appoint an independent person (funded by the Council) to work with Mr X to explore the various elements of his complaint, see what records, if any, are available and see if it would be appropriate to provide a remedy to Mr X. This is a fair way to deal with the complaint as it would be an opportunity for Mr X to ask questions of the Council and explain his concerns in more detail and, perhaps, reach some form of closure and resolution.

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Final decision

9. I will not start an investigation because the Council has offered a way for Mr X to present his concerns to the Council for exploration.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman