Staffordshire County Council (26 009 401)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 14 Jul 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in the children’s statutory complaint procedure. This is because Miss X’s complaint to us is late and there are no good reasons why it couldn’t have been brought to us sooner.
The complaint
- Miss X complains the Council has not dealt with her complaint in accordance with the children’s statutory complaint procedure. Specifically, that it has not provided her a stage one response to her complaint submitted in October 2024.
- Miss X wants a review of the parent carer’s assessment the Council completed and an explanation for the delay in handling her complaint.
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 Miss X.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- In October 2024, Miss X complained to the Council about the outcome of a carers assessment. The Council wrote to Miss X acknowledging the complaint and said it would provide her a stage one response within 20 working days.
- Miss X did not receive the response. She contacted the Council in November and December 2024 seeking an update. The Council responded on both occasions to say it did not have an update for Miss X.
- Miss X contacted the Council again in June 2025, having had no update. Miss X has still not received a response. She complained to us in June 2026.
- We will not investigate this complaint as it is late and there are no good reasons to investigate it now. It was reasonable for Miss X to bring her complaint to us sooner. Paragraph 3 of this decision statement applies.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is late and there are no good reasons why she could not have brought it to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman