Summary: Mr X complains that a decision by the Council in 2012 was incorrect. Mr X also complains that Mrs X will potentially be made homeless by the Council. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint as there is no current injustice to address.

The complaint

1. Mr X, complaining on behalf of Mrs X, complains that an independent investigator said a decision taken by the Council in 2012 was wrong.
2. Mrs X now lives with her mother in housing provided by a housing association. Mr X says that Mrs X will suffer a future injustice in relation to housing should her mother need to move into a care home.

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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’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I have considered Mr X’s complaint to the Ombudsman and the information he has provided. I gave Mr X the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. The restriction outlined in paragraph two applies to this complaint because it concerns a decision made by the Council in 2012. We have discretion to set this aside where we decided there are good reasons. In this case, I have decided not to exercise discretion because:
• Mr X was aware of the issues in 2012 and has not provided any good reasons why he did not complain to the Ombudsman within 12 months of knowing about the problem. It is reasonable to expect him to have complained to us much sooner;
• The further away an investigation takes place from the events to be investigated, the more difficult it is to reach a fair and meaningful decision. With the passage of time, memories fade, Council officers may have left their employment and the available records may not provide a full picture of what happened;
• Although an independent investigator recently concluded the 2012 decision was wrong, this does not provide sufficient grounds to investigate such a late complaint.
• Mr X has concerns about a potential future issue with the housing situation for Mrs X. However, this is speculative and as such Mrs X has not experienced any tangible injustice.

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Final decision

7. My decision is that the Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is late and there are no good reasons to investigate now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman