Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the lack of support to her as a looked after child and as a care leaver. There are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about Children Services lack of support to her as a former looked after child (LAC).

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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 information provided by Ms X.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X says she was a LAC. She says the Council failed to safeguard her when she was in foster care and failed to support her properly from aged 15 to 25. She says it did not provide her with an educational bursary she believes she was entitled to.
6. Ms X complained to the Council in 2017. She did not continue the complaint. She says the last email the Council sent her said it would get back to her.
7. The Council replied to Ms X’s recent complaint. It said the events are now too old to investigate.

Analysis

8. We cannot investigate a complaint about matters Ms X knew about for over 12 months, unless there are good reasons. Ms X says she could not do so because Ms X:
• had sometime being homeless;
• had sometime of unemployment;
• says she slept for a year on a friend’s sofa with little means;
• is wary of communicating with children services because of her experiences;
• says she was too preoccupied with trying to sort her life out and better her situation.
9. Part of Ms X’s complaints are about historic issues while a LAC. Ms X is now 30
10. We will not dis-apply the requirements of the late complaint rule, in historic cases unless we have very clear reasons for doing so which satisfy the following two tests:
• We are confident there is a realistic prospect of reaching a sound, fair, and meaningful decision, and
• We are satisfied Ms X could not reasonably be expected to have complained sooner.
11. I am not satisfied Ms X’s case meets the two tests because:
• The events Ms X complains of start 14 years ago. This causes difficulties in proving with reasonable confidence, the material facts and in gathering enough evidence to reach a sound decision.
• The gap in time makes it difficult to achieve a meaningful remedy, or in proving causality.
• It is six years since Ms X first complained to the Council. I am not convinced her delay reasons cover the whole six years nor that all her reasons for delaying are significant enough.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman