The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with child protection matters concerning Mr X’s children. This is because the complaint is made late, and I see no good reason why it could not have been raised sooner. Also, the issues raised have been, or could reasonably have been mentioned during court proceedings.
The complaint
Mr X complains about how the Council dealt with child protection matters concerning his children. Mr X says the Council failed to deal with a safeguarding concern raised in 2022 and about information it provided during court proceedings.
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 have the power to start or end an investigation into a complaint about actions the law allows us to investigate. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we think the issues could reasonably be, or have been mentioned as part of the legal proceedings regarding a closely related matter. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), 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 Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and I see no good reason why he could not have complained sooner.
Even if Mr X had complained sooner we would not have considered his complaint. The care of his children has been considered in court and the issues he has raised have been, or could have reasonably been raised during those proceedings.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is made late and is about matters that have been, or could have been raised in court.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman