Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the way Mrs X’s selective mutism was treated while she was at school. The complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to consider it. We cannot investigate the actions of schools.

The complaint

1. Mrs X said school and Council staff failed to help her as they should when she had selective mutism as a child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. 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)
4. We cannot investigate complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(b), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
6. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

7. Mrs X’s complaint concerns matters from the 1980s. While Mrs X could not, as a child, be expected to complain within 12 months about the Council, over 30 years has passed, and it would have been reasonable for her to have approached us much sooner. Much of the complaint is also about school actions, which we cannot investigate regardless of time.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now. We cannot investigate complaints about the actions of schools.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman