The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint about her experience as a looked-after child between 2005 and 2010. This is because significant time has passed since and we could not complete a robust investigation of this historic matter.
The complaint
Mrs B complained about her experiences a looked after child between 2005 and 2010. This caused Mrs B to feel neglected and failed.
Mrs B says she is struggling with depression and poor mental health because of the trauma she experienced whilst a looked after child.
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 We investigate 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 continue an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome; and there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
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 Mrs B’s complaint as it is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion.
Mrs B complains about actions that happened in 2005 to 2010. Due to the period that has passed, it would make it difficult gather all evidence and to establish what happened with reasonable confidence. This would make it difficult to reach a sound and meaningful conclusion.
Mrs B says she wants the council to address the failings it made, which have been set out in an independent review completed by the council following her complaint. We would be unable to achieve any additional remedy.
Final Decision
We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because the complaint is late and the events are historic, so we could not complete a sufficient investigation.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman