Summary: On the evidence currently available, we will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about how the Council’s children’s services handled her case as a child. This is because the issues Miss X complains of are historical and the complaint is late. There are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the decisions the Council’s children’s services made for her as a child. She says they were bad decisions which exposed her to harm and have continued to affect her as an adult. Miss X would like the Council to recognise what happened to her as a child.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered the information Miss X provided with her complaint. I also considered the information the Council provided. Miss X had the opportunity to comment on the draft version of this decision.

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What I found

4. Miss X says when she was a child, children’s services made bad decisions for her. She says she was adopted and put into care throughout her childhood and was not allowed to see her father. Miss X says she suffered a lot of abuse which has affected her mental health as an adult and she has not been able to work for the last ten years.
5. Miss X complained to the Council about how children’s services handled her case when she was a child. The Council responded and said the issues Miss X complains of are historical and it would be difficult to investigate her case as so much time has passed. The Council said while it cannot look into her complaint, it can offer a counselling service to Miss X which is for adults who were adopted. It added that children and young people’s services would be able to share the adoption records with Miss X, to give her an understanding of why certain decisions were made when she was a child.

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Analysis

6. The restriction outlined in paragraph two applies to this complaint because Miss X complains about events that took place many years ago. We have discretion to set aside this rule where we decide there are good reasons. In this case I have decided not to exercise discretion for the following reasons:
1. We are not confident that there is a realistic prospect of reaching a sound, fair and meaningful decision because of the amount of time which has passed since the issues Miss X complains of. It would be difficult to establish material facts with reasonable confidence and we are less likely to be able to gather enough evidence to reach a sound judgement.
2. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to have complained to us much sooner. She has not provided good reasons why she did not complain earlier.

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Final decision

7. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the issues Miss X complains of are historical and the complaint is late. There are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman