Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about delays and how the Council provided support to her son. These complaints are late and there are no good reasons why they could not have been made sooner.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained on behalf of her son (Y), about delays and the level of provision, the Council secured, in support of his Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plan.
2. Mrs X said this has had a profound impact on Y’s development and Mrs X is seeking compensation for the impact on Y’s development.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 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 must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mrs X is the parent of Y, who is her adult son, and who has an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plan.
8. In May 2022, Mrs X complained about her concerns about the support the Council, and other statutory bodies, were providing for Y. From the information I have seen, the matters, which affect the Council go back to 2012 up until 2021 at the latest.
9. These matters are now late and there are no good reasons why Mrs X could not have complained to us about these issues at the time, when she was aware something was wrong.
10. Mrs X is also looking for the Council to provide compensation to make up for the impact on Y’s development over several years of what she says was inaction and a failure to provide adequate support. This is not something we could achieve as only the courts can award compensation for such a matter.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because they are late and in any case we could not achieve the outcome she is seeking.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman