Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children services actions. There are no compelling reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, complains about the Council’s children services’ team’s actions in 2016.

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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. It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information Miss X provided with her complaint and the Council’s replies to her which it provided. Miss X had the opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.

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What I found

5. Miss X says that in February 2016, while in hospital, the Council’s children services team disagreed with her about who should care for her child during her hospital stay. She says its action at that time led to her moving house and losing her furniture.
6. Miss X complained to the Council in April 2019. It said in 2016, it had a child protection plan for Miss X’s child. It says as part of that plan for safeguarding reasons, it had asked Miss X not to return to her previous home.

Analysis

7. We cannot investigate events which Miss X has been aware of for more than 12 months without good reasons. Here I am not satisfied there are compelling reasons why Miss X took three years to complain.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because there are no compelling reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman