The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of charging issues for a resident at her care home up to 2022. The complaint lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.
The complaint
Mrs X is a Care Provider. She complains about the Council’s handling of a financial assessment and charging issues for a resident of her care home which she says has led to an outstanding debt of unpaid care fees.
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 do not start an investigation if we decide 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
Mrs X has been corresponding with the Council and the resident’s family on this matter for several years. The resident died in 2022 and Mrs X says the matter remains unresolved as there are unpaid care home fees and a debt owed to the care home.
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint. It lies outside our jurisdiction because it is late. The law says a complaint should be made to us within 12 months of the person affected first becoming aware of the matter. Mrs X has clearly been aware of this matter for well over 12 months and as a Care Provider would be aware of her right to raise the matter to us and the relevant time restrictions. The complaint could have been made to us much sooner and within 12 months of her first becoming aware of the matter. I see no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider this very late complaint now.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it lies outside our jurisdiction and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman