Summary: The Council was not at fault for rejecting Mrs C’s complaint because it was too old. For the same reason, we have not investigated the substantive issues Mrs C complains about.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs C, complains about how the Council provided social work support to her autistic son, whom I refer to as Mr B, before he turned 18 in early 2022.
2. Mrs C says Mr B suffered distress from the lack of support. She also says she suffered distress, financial loss and personal injury (from Mr B’s violent behaviour in the family home).

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
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 from Mrs C and the Council.
6. I considered the statutory guidance document, ‘Getting the best from complaints’. This provides instructions to councils on how to deal with children’s social work complaints.
7. Mrs C and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What happened

8. Mrs C complained to the Council in December 2021 about Mr B’s social worker. The Council resolved the complaint.
9. The Council says Mrs C’s 2021 complaint and her current complaint are the same. Mrs C disagrees.
10. Mr B turned 18 in January 2022 and his case was transferred to adult social care.
11. In February 2023, Mrs C made a new complaint to the Council about the support Mr B had received before he turned 18.
12. In March, the Council rejected her complaint. It decided there were no good reasons why she could not have made the complaint earlier.
13. The Council said the events in Mrs C’s complaint were more than a year old and, as she could have complained earlier, it did not have to consider the complaint.

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What I found

Statutory guidance

14. Councils do not need to consider complaints about events which are more than a year old.
15. However, they have the discretion to investigate old complaints in certain circumstances. Decisions to do so should be made on a case-by-case basis, but reasons can include:
• It would have been unreasonable to expect the complainant to complain earlier.
• The complainant has particular vulnerabilities.
• Considering the complaint could still be beneficial to the complainant.

My findings

16. Mrs C complained to the Council at the time of the events she now describes but did not continue with the complaint. She and the Council disagree about how similar that complaint is to this one.
17. Irrespective of the similarities between the two complaints (or lack thereof), Mrs C waited 13 months before making her current complaint to the Council. This was a long period of time in which she could have complained, and I have not seen any good reasons why she could not do so.
18. We expect councils not to reject old complaints out of hand. The statutory guidance says they should consider whether there is good reason to investigate.
19. As the Council did give some consideration to whether to accept Mrs C’s complaint, and as the ultimate decision to reject the complaint was not obviously unreasonable (given the long delay before she complained), I have no grounds to find fault with the Council. It made a decision which it was entitled to make.
20. For the same reason, I will not investigate Mrs C’s complaint either. It is not unreasonable to expect her to have complained earlier.

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Final decision

21. The Council was not at fault for rejecting Mrs C’s complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman