The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s children’s services dealt with safeguarding concerns almost 40 years ago. This is because the events happened too long ago, and there are no good grounds to exercise discretion and investigate them now.
The complaint
The complaint, who I will call Mr X, complains about how the Council’s children’s services dealt with safeguarding concerns raised about his care in the mid-1980’s
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
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 the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
I will not investigate this complaint because the events happened too long ago. Given the period that has passed I do not consider a robust investigation would be possible in this case.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the events happened too long ago and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion and investigate them now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman