Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to consider her complaint about historical allegations of abuse. This is because, given the passage of time, we do not consider there is a realistic prospect of reaching a sound, fair and meaningful decision.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council refused to investigate her complaint about abuse she suffered while she was a Looked After Child. She says despite reporting the abuse at the time, the Council did not investigate or take proper safeguarding action. She says it is unacceptable the Council failed to keep key records about her care after she reported abuse.
2. Miss X says these failures have had a lasting impact on her into adulthood. She wants the Council to:

• accept its failings;
• offer a clear apology;
• review the records that still exist; and,
• reassure her that it has improved its safeguarding and record‑keeping practices.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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

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

7. In October 2025, Miss X made a complaint to the Council about abuse she suffered while in care as a child.
8. The Council said it would not consider Miss X’s complaint because the events fall outside its complaints timeframe. It said due to the passage of time its records were limited and lacked enough detail to support a formal investigation. While expressing sympathy for Miss X’s experiences, the Council said it could not reach conclusions based on the available evidence. It added that its record‑keeping practices have improved since and signposted her to support services and sources of legal advice.
9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. I considered whether there were good reasons to exercise discretion to disapply the time limit. It is my view given the age of the events and the limited records the Council holds about Miss X as a child, we would be unable to complete a fair and conclusive investigation. It is also unlikely we could provide any meaningful remedy, as it becomes harder to link current injustice directly to historic actions. In many circumstances, standards or guidance have also since changed making it difficult to recommend tangible service improvements.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to consider her complaint about historical allegations of abuse. This is because, given the passage of time, we do not consider there is a realistic prospect of reaching a sound, fair and meaningful decision.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman