The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council failing to provide an education between March 2021 and February 2022. There are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.
The complaint
Mrs X says the Council failed to provide a suitable education to B, for whom she is their mother.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X says B stopped attending their school in March 2021. She says B could not attend school because of health issues. Mrs X says the Council failed to provide an alternative education between March 2021 and February 2022. B then received education outside the school for which the Council paid Mrs X for.
The Council says it replied to a complaint from Mrs X about this gap in B’s education in March 2022. It says she did not ask for her complaint to be escalated.
Mrs X says she requested escalation to stage two in March 2022 and chased this in April 2023.
Mrs X first complained to us in June 2023.
Analysis We cannot investigate a complaint about issues known to Mrs X for more than 12 months before she complained to us without good reasons. Mrs X says the stress of the situation meant she could not complain. I have taken this into account. I have also considered the time span involved, that matters have moved on and Mrs X appealed to the Tribunal in the intervening period. On balance, Mrs X’s reasons are not sufficient enough to justify not applying the 12 months rule.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman