Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s historic complaint about unpaid charges for care provision. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late and there are no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider this very late complaint now.

The complaint

1. Mrs X is a Care Provider, she complains there is a large unpaid debt owed by the Council for care provision between 2011 and 2023. Mrs X says they have been corresponding with the Council on this matter for several years and it remains unresolved. She says the issue arose due to the funding system the Council had in place up until late 2022.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
3. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

7. Mrs X complained to the Council in mid-2024 about unpaid charges for care provision for residents between 2011 and 2023.
8. The Council told Mrs X it was unable to consider the matter as it was a historic complaint and it did not have access to the relevant charging records to enable it to consider it now. It said it would expect providers to reconcile the accounts at the end of each financial year so that any discrepancies could be raised at the time.
9. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of the person affected first becoming aware of the matter. I see no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider this very late complaint now. Also, the difficulty the Council sets out in being able to effectively investigate the matter now would also apply to an investigation by this office.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late and there are no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider it now.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman