The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about fostering. This is because the complaint is late with no good reasons to investigate it now.
The complaint
Ms Y complained the Council wrongly removed foster children from her care in December 2020 following a complaint from a member of the public which was poorly investigated by the Council’s staff. Ms Y also complains about the lack of support for her and her foster children while they were in placement and the Council poor handling of her complaint.
This has caused Ms Y significant distress and upset. She is also concerned at how the children she was fostering will have been affected.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) It is not a good use of public resources to investigate complaints about complaint procedures, if we are unable to deal with the substantive issue.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided Ms Y and the Council provided and the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms Y began fostering children with complex needs in 2017. Following a complaint from a member of the public, the children were removed from Ms Y’s care in December 2020. Ms Y complained to the Council in March 2021 and again in June 2021, including through her Member of Parliament.
The Council responded to the complaint in June, asking for Ms Y to provide further details to allow the Council to fully investigate her complaint. This particularly related to issues about a member of the Council’s staff who had investigated the complaint about the care for the foster children.
After not receiving this information, the Council then wrote to Ms Y at the start of July, explaining that if it heard nothing further from her within the next two weeks, it would close its investigation into her complaint. It then closed the complaint.
Ms Y then approached us through a family member, who is now acting as her representative, in May 2022.
Analysis The law says people should normally complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of an issue. Complaints brought to the Ombudsman more than 12 months after someone becomes aware of something a council has done are considered late. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons.
Ms Y’s was aware of her reason to complain about the Council’s actions when the foster children were removed from her property, more than 12 months ago. The other complaints relate to the Council’s actions prior to this event in December 2020. Consequently, Ms Y’s complaint is now late.
We have discretion to disapply the rule outlined in paragraph three where we decide there are good reasons. Ms Y has not provided any good reasons why she did not bring her complaint to us within 12 months of knowing about the matter. It is reasonable to expect her to have complained sooner.
Therefore, as there are no good reasons to exercise discretion, we will not investigate this late complaint.
As we are not able to investigate the substantive complaint, it is not a good use of public resources to investigate how the Council dealt with Ms Y’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms Y’s complaint because it is late with no good reasons to investigate it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman