West Northamptonshire Council (25 012 688)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Apr 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate X’s complaint about children services’ actions as there are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.
The complaint
- X says the Council failed to carry out a child and family assessment.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by X and the Council’s replies to their complaint.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- X says they have disabilities. X’s parent complained to the Council’s children services team in May 2024. They said the school and Council had failed to assess and help X from May 2021 onwards. They referred to safeguarding and CSE issues. The Council replied at stage one in May and stage two July 2024 of its complaints’ procedure. It explained the Council’s actions. Signposted X’s parents to the school, the police and to us.
- X’s parents complained on their behalf to us in September 2025. We will not investigate issues known to X for more than 12 months unless there are good reasons to do so. There are no good reasons provided here why X and their parents on their behalf have delayed in complaining to us.
Final decision
- We will not investigate X’s complaint because there are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman