Wiltshire Council (24 009 789)
Category : Children's care services > Looked after children
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Nov 2024
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about what happened when Ms X was adopted in the 1970s. This is because the complaint is late, and the issues raised took placed too long ago for us to now properly investigate. The police are the appropriate body to investigate crimes and a claim for compensation needs to be considered by the courts.
The complaint
- The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Ms X, complained the Council placed her in an abusive situation when she was adopted in the 1970s. Ms X says she was mentally and physically assaulted, and her child was also abused. Ms X wants compensation.
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 has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:
- we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
- there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
- there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
- (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
- The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- The Ombudsman expects people to complain to us within twelve months of them becoming aware of a problem. This is so we have the best opportunity of reaching robust, evidence-based decisions.
- I understand Ms X may not have been able to complain to us when the events at the heart of her complaint took place. But some of the events date back over 50 years. Ms X’s complaint is of an historic nature, and she could have contacted us earlier. Her complaint is therefore late and so we will not investigate. But even if we were to set aside the time issue, we would not investigate for the following reasons:
- It would be impossible to establish with confidence what happened so long ago and to gather enough evidence to reach a sound judgment.
- Ms X’s complaint includes allegations of crimes which are matters for the police.
- Ms X would like compensation. This is awarded when a party has been deemed negligent. That is not something we could decide and is instead a matter for the courts. We could not therefore achieve the outcome Ms X wants, but a claim in court could. It is therefore reasonable she pursues this option. Ms X should seek legal advice about this matter.
- An investigation is not therefore appropriate.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late, and we could not now carry out a meaningful investigation. Allegations of crimes are for the police and a claim for compensation needs to be pursued in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman