Lancashire County Council (21 002 048)
Category : Children's care services > Looked after children
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 24 May 2021
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to support her in caring for a foster child with disabilities between 2012 and 2019. The complaint is historic and there is no good reason to investigate it now.
The complaint
- Ms X said the Council failed to support her in caring for a disabled foster child between 2012 and 2019.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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 provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
- I read Ms X’s complaint and spoke to her on the telephone. I gave her an opportunity to comment on a draft decision.
- The child has made a separate complaint about what happened between 2012 and 2019. We will consider his complaint separately in case 21 000 095.
What I found
- Ms X fostered a child with disabilities. She complains of a lack of support for her between 2012 and 2019.
- Ms X told me she complained to the Council in 2019, but that it declined to deal with her complaint. She said she then complained via two MPs, the second of whom directed her to us. She said caring for the child was very time-consuming, which I do not dispute.
- However, Ms X was aware in 2019 of the matters complained of, which went back up to seven years, and she knew the Council had declined to consider her complaint. She was able to complain to two MPs. And an internet search would have shown we deal with complaints about councils and that a telephone call is sufficient to make a complaint.
Final decision
- We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the matters complained of are historic and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate them now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman