The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the events that led to the complainant being placed in a school where he was abused. This is because the amount of time that has passed means that records no longer exist and we therefore cannot achieve the outcome that the complainant seeks.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complains that he was subjected to abuse when he was placed at a residential school in the 1980s. Mr X would like the Council responsible to carry out a full investigation about how the decision to place him at the school was made.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also contacted the Local Authority where the residential school was located.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X contacted another Local Authority and asked it to investigate his complaint. The other Local Authority told Mr X that it did not have any records in relation to his complaint and referred him to Lancashire County Council.
Lancashire Council told Mr X it could not answer the questions he raised in his complaint, because it does not hold any information relating to these events. The Council has said that, whilst it now does retain education documents for 45 years, this policy has only been in place since the 1990s. Therefore, any records from the 1980’s would have likely been destroyed around 20 years ago.
I contacted the Local Authority in which the school Mr X went to was located. It told me that it does not hold any information about children placed in the school by other Local Authorities.
Mr X wants the Council to investigate the circumstances that led to his placement at the school. However, given the significant amount of time that passed and the fact that any records relating to Mr X’s placement at the school do not exist it would not be possible for the Council to carry out an effective investigation into the issues raised by Mr X. We therefore cannot achieve the outcome he seeks and will therefore not investigate this complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because we cannot achieve the outcome he seeks.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman