The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the child protection actions of the Council concerning Ms X’s family. The complaint is late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate it now.
The complaint
Ms X said the Council had imposed unjustified measures on her family, accusing them without evidence and imposing invasive scrutiny.
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)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complained to us in May 2025. Her complaint to the Council was 12 months minus two days before that. The only date references in her complaint to the Council were to matters from March 2024 and over a period of seven months before her complaint. It was clear by early June 2024 from the Council’s response to her complaint that it would not give Ms X the information she wanted about what action might be taken against a member of staff against whom she had complained. She told it she was confused by its response.
With the Council not responding to her demand for information, it would have been reasonable for Ms X to contact us much sooner. A phone call or online enquiry would have been sufficient. Instead, the complaint correspondence shows she went back to the Council after 11 months, and then complained to us when it declined the complaint again.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the matters she complains of are late and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate them now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman