Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (25 014 650)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 11 Mar 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Mr X’s contact with the Council and its complaint handling. This is because the complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.
The complaint
- Mr X complains about the way the Council’s Early Help Team engaged with him and his family, saying its actions were inappropriate and caused him distress.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
- 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/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended.
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X was unhappy with several actions the Council took in relation to his family in late 2023 and early 2024. Mr X complained. The Council issued its Stage One response to Mr X’s complaint in July 2024. Mr X then complained to the Ombudsman in September 2025.
- The time limit for bringing complaints runs from when someone becomes aware of the issue they wish to complain about, not from when they complain to the Council or receive a final response. We expect people to complain to us within a year, even if they are unhappy with delays in the Council’s complaints process.
- I will not investigate this complaint because it is late, and I have seen no good reasons why Mr X did not approach us earlier, once he had the Council’s decisions on this matter.
- Mr X is unhappy the Council has restricted his contact with it. We will not investigate any complaint about complaint handling because it is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we decide not to deal with the substantive issue.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it was a late complaint and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman