Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council completed an assessment which includes false information about the complainant. The complaint is late and there are no grounds for us to consider it now, and our intervention would not achieve the outcome the complainant wants.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr X, complains that the Council completed an assessment which contains false information about him.

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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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr X complains that his children’s social worker has completed an assessment which contains inaccurate information about him. He wants the inaccurate information removed and the assessment updated. The Council’s response says the social worker included allegations made by other parties in the assessment because they were relevant, but did not present them as fact.
7. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. Mr X complained to the Council in December 2023, so he has known about the content of the assessment for more than 12 months before coming to the Ombudsman in January 2025. The Council’s response told him he could complain to the Ombudsman at the time, but he did not do so. There are no grounds for us to consider the complaint now.
8. It is also the case that our intervention would not achieve the outcome Mr X wants. We do not normally ask councils to change the information held on their records. The most we would seek to achieve is that a complainant’s dissenting views are recorded. Mr X’s views are set out in his complaint to the Council. So, this has already been achieved. If Mr X believes the Council holds false information about him, he may pursue his Right to Rectification under data protection law. There is no role for the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late, and our intervention would not achieve the outcome he wants.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman