Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint the Council gave her incorrect advice as a Care Leaver, resulting in debt. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons why it could not have been brought to us sooner.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council gave her incorrect advice as a Care Leaver, resulting in debt. Ms X also complains the Council has done nothing to help her which has led to her receiving eviction threats and court action. Ms X says this has impacted on her mental health and ability to work. She wants the Council to pay off her remaining debts and retrain the team involved so it provides better support in future.

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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 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 there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), section 34(B))
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

7. Ms X made a stage one complaint to the Council in December 2023, which it responded to in January 2024. The Council’s response gave information about how Ms X could escalate her complaint to stage two if she remained dissatisfied. Although Ms X did have further contact with the Council’s Leaving Care Team following her stage one complaint, she does not appear to have formally requested escalation to stage two.
8. Since January 2024, the Council has been working with Ms X to provide her with financial support. This has included helping pay off outstanding debts, providing a bursary and help with accommodation and living expenses. The Council has told us it is not aware of Ms X having any outstanding debts at this time.
9. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaints about the Council’s handling prior to January 2024 because they are late. We expect people to bring their complaints to us within 12 months of the events they are complaining about. The Council has provided us with evidence which shows it advised Ms X how to escalate her complaint in January 2024. Because of this there appears no good reason why Ms X could not have escalated her complaint or brought it to us sooner.
10. Any concerns Ms X has about the Council’s handling after January 2024 would need to first be raised with the Council to give it the opportunity to respond. We will not investigate these issues until Ms X has exhausted the Council's complaint process.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons why it could not have been brought to us sooner.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman