Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s historic complaint about the Council’s actions between 1993-1997 when she was a child in its care. This is because we cannot carry out a full, fair and effective investigation into the Council’s actions now due to the very significant passage of time since the events complained about.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s actions between 1993-1997 when she was a child in the Council’s care and about the long-term impact this has had on her. Mrs X says the Council missed opportunities to protect her and her siblings from harm and made no effort to place her with family members rather than in foster care.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. It is our decision whether to start an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), 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. Mrs X complained to the Council, in early 2025, about its actions approximately 30 years ago when she was a child in its care. Mrs X raised the complaint after receiving information from her records via a subject access request.
7. The Council told Mrs X it was unable to consider the matter via its complaints procedure due to the significant passage of time since the events complained about. It explained the limited paper records also meant it would not be able to fully understand the Council’s decision making at the time or reach a view on whether there was fault. It explained that its practices have changed significantly over the past 30 years.
8. The Council met with Mrs X to discuss the information she received and her concerns outside of the formal complaints procedure. It also shared information Mrs X provided about a family member with the police, as agreed, and offered to make enquiries around the availability of any relevant court documents on her case.
9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. The complaint is historic and the difficulties the Council has highlighted in being able to investigate this matter formally now would also apply to any investigation by this office. Due to the very significant passage of time, approximately 30 years, since the events complained about, there is no realistic prospect of us being able to carry out a full and fair investigation into events now and reach a reliable view, based on the information available via the records.
10. The Council has explained that practice has changed significantly since these events along with changes to legislation and this also applies to record keeping requirements and practice. The records made at the time were much more limited than would be the case now. Changes in staff, practice, guidance, policies and legislation over time would also impact our ability to carry out a meaningful investigation and reach a sound decision on whether there was fault by the Council at the time of these events.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. This is because, due to the very significant passage of time since the events complained about, there is no realistic prospect of us being able to carry out an effective investigation and reach a fair and reliable view on the matters raised now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman