Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about the Council allegedly failing to refer Mr X’s family for further help. There is not a good reason for the delay in Mr X bringing the matter to the Ombudsman.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council failed to complete agreed action, to make referrals to other services for the family, in 2022. He said the Council failed to keep proper records. He did not say how the matter affected the family or what he wanted to happen as an outcome from complaining.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council agreed to refer his family for mediation, delivered by another Council team, after an assessment in early 2022. He says it did not do so. He complained to the Council in April 2022, and it responded in August 2022 saying the referral had now been made. It told Mr X he could escalate his complaint to stage two of its procedures. Mr X replied saying his complaint had been resolved, but that he had not yet received contact from the relevant team.
6. Mr X contacted the Council again at several times in late 2022 and 2023 saying he had still not received contact from the service.
7. Mr X contacted us in May 2024. The law says people must bring complaints to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter, unless there are good reasons. I have applied the 12 months from April 2022, as this is when Mr X was aware there was outstanding action, and raised his complaint with the Council.
8. Mr X likely believed action was imminent at points between April 2022 and May 2024, for example after the Council’s complaint response of August 2022. I have therefore considered that it may not have been reasonable for him to contact us for some of the period. I have also considered the time it took the Council to issue its stage one complaint response.
9. However, by the end of 2022 it would have been reasonable for Mr X to escalate his complaint via the Council. I am satisfied it would have been reasonable for him to contact us by April 2023 had he still not received a satisfactory outcome from his complaint a year earlier. There is not a good reason for the further year’s delay, and we will not therefore investigate this late complaint.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s late complaint because there is not a good reason for the delay in him escalating the matter to the Ombudsman.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman