The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about lack of information provided to Mr B and his deceased parents regarding charges for care. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate this late complaint.
The complaint
Mr B complained in February 2020 about charges for his parents care. Mr B says the Council failed to undertake a financial assessment when they moved to Glasgow in 2018 and failed to explain procedures. Mr B says the Council should pay allowances his parents should have received.
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 the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My Assessment
Mr B received a response from the Council in March 2020 advising him to come to the Ombudsman. Mr B says due to Covid he is only now able to resume his complaint.
The Council explained in its response, Mr B’s parents decided to move to a nursing home Glasgow in 2018 supported by Mr B and had income over the threshold for the Council to contribute towards their care, so would have been self-funding. It confirmed they were not in receipt of any commissioned services at the time.
We expect a person to come to us within 12 months of the date of the issues known. Although there was a short period when the Ombudsman was closed due to the Covid pandemic, we would have expected Mr B to have come to us before now.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because he could have come to us sooner if he was concerned about the Council’s actions in 2018.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman