The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about matters relating to her mother’s care home placement between 2019 and 2020. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late and I see no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider it now.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, complains on behalf of her deceased mother Mrs Y, about matters relating to her care home placement between 2019 and 2020.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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 may decide not to start an investigation if the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) 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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X first complained to the Council about these matters in July 2020. The Council issued its final response to her complaint in September 2020. The Council’s final response letter clearly signposted Ms X to this office should she remain dissatisfied with its response.
Ms X complained to the Council again in July 2022, about the same matters. The Council explained it would not consider the matter again as it issued its final response back in 2020.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of the person first becoming aware of the matter. I see no good grounds to exercise discretion to consider this very late complaint now almost three years after the initial events complained about and over two years after Ms X was first signposted to this office by the Council.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman