Summary: We will not investigate Ms X and Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision not to respond to their concerns to justify an investigation.

The complaint

1. Ms X and Mr Y complain the Council refused to consider their complaint because it was more than 12 months since the events they complained about. They want the Ombudsman to direct the Council to investigate their concerns.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but we must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Ms X and Mr Y’s complaint relates to their application for a Special Guardianship Order for their grandson.
6. They complained to the Council in December 2025. Their complaint letter said their complaint was a continuation of complaints they had made by telephone in July 2021 and to which they had not received a satisfactory reply.
7. The Council declined to respond to their complaint because more than 12 months had passed since the events they complained about. The Council explained the difficulties of investigating complaints about matters that had happened years earlier, and noted Ms X and Mr Y had given no explanation for their delay in pursuing their complaint.
8. Unhappy with the Council’s response, Ms X and Mr Y complained to us.
9. Ms X explained the delay was due to waiting for the Council to respond to a subject access request for documents relating to the case.
10. We will not investigate Ms X and Mr Y’s complaint about the Council’s decision not to respond to their concerns because there is not enough evidence of fault in the decision to justify an investigation.
11. Like the Council, we will not normally investigate a complaint about matters someone has known about for more than 12 months before complaining to us. Ms X and Mr Y should have complained to us by July 2022 at the latest if they were not happy with the Council’s actions. We do not expect people to make subject access requests for documents before complaining to us.
12. In any event, we would not investigate Ms X and Mr Y’s complaint because it relates to court proceedings. The law prevents us from considering complaints about matters that have been before a court. This includes assessments, such as those completed by a social worker for a special guardianship order application.
13. Ms X and Mr Y also raised concerns about the Council’s handling of personal information. These are matters for the Information Commissioner, not for us.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Ms X and Mr Y’s complaint because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s decision not to respond to their concerns to justify an investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman