Summary: The Ombudsman should not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to a child safeguarding matter from 2006. Mr X was an adult witness, and he could have approached us sooner.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council failed to deal properly with a reported incident involving a sexual assault by a teacher on sixth formers at a school event in 2006.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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

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How I considered this complaint

4. I read Mr X’s complaint. I have given him the opportunity to comment on a draft decision.

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What I found

5. Mr X, a mature adult at the time, says he witnessed sexual abuse of sixth formers by another adult at a school event in 2006.
6. We have discretion to investigate matters more than 12 months in the past. This is usually where the person was unaware of a matter at the time, or where they have been prevented from coming to us sooner. We understand that children who have been sexually abused often take years or even decades to be able to speak out. When they approach us, we bear that in mind.
7. However, Mr X was an adult witness, not an abused child. He pursued the matter with different bodies, including the police, in the years after 2006. He could have approached the Ombudsman sooner.

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Final decision

8. The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because Mr X could have approached us sooner and there is no good reason to exercise discretion in the matter.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman