West Sussex County Council

The Ombudsman's final decision

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council ending his daughter, Y’s, day care provision. This is because it is late.

The complaint

Mr X complained the Council stopped providing provision to his daughter, Y, who has eligible care and support needs under the Care Act 2014. It affected Y’s health and caused distress to the family. Mr X wants the Council to provide them with an apology, fund the provision and provide them with a financial remedy for the missed provision since it stopped.

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 Mr X and the Council.

I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

My assessment

Y attended a day care provision from March 2023 which was arranged and funded by the Council. By December 2023, the Council’s contract with the placement was due to end. Mr X said at the time, he asked the Council to provide further funding so Y could continue to attend the placement. The Council said as it no longer had a direct contract with the placement, Mr X would need to agree to a direct payment. This would allow Mr X to arrange the provision himself.

Mr X complained to the Council in late 2025 about Y not being able to attend the placement due to no funding being in place.

We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. This is because Mr X was aware of the Council’s contract ending in late 2023. We expect people to complain to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter complained of. Mr X’s complaint is late and there are no good reasons why he did not complain sooner.

Final decision

We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it is late.

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman