Summary: We will not investigate part of Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s care of her child, Y, and about issues that happened on or before August 2024 because the complaint is late. We will not investigate Miss X’s new complaint submitted to the Council in January 2026 because the complaints process is not yet finished.

The complaint

1. Miss X has a child, Y, who is a Looked After Child in the care of the Council. Miss X complains about the Council’s decision-making regarding Y.
2. Miss X said the matter caused her distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

August 2024 complaint

7. Miss X wrote to the Council in August 2024 raising a complaint about Y’s placement. The Council was considering the primary issues under a section 47 (child protection) investigation.
8. The law says a person should bring a complaint to the Ombudsman within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter. Miss X did not complain to the Ombudsman until November 2025. This complaint is therefore late. I have seen no good reasons Miss X could not have complained to the Ombudsman sooner. Consequently, we will not investigate Miss X’s complaints about issues that took place on or before August 2024.

January 2026 complaint

9. Miss X submitted a further complaint to the Council in January 2026. In response to the Ombudsman’s enquiries, the Council explained the complaint is currently progressing through the children’s statutory complaints process.
10. The law says we cannot investigate premature complaints unless we decide it would not be reasonable to notify the organisation and give it the opportunity to reply.
11. I have seen no good reasons the Ombudsman should investigate before the children’s statutory complaints process is finished. If Miss X is dissatisfied once all three stages of the process are completed, she could consider returning the matter to the Ombudsman as a new complaint for us to consider.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate part of Miss X’s complaint because it is late. We will not investigate the remainder because it is premature.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman