The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about events which happened 24 years ago. There are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mr X, complains about children services actions 24 years ago.
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.
I considered Mr X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.
My assessment
Mr X says the Council’s children services team accused him of not safeguarding his child following an incident involving his child and his father. Mr X says he wants an explanation of where the accusations come from.
We should not dis-apply the requirements of the 12 month rule in historic cases unless we have very clear reasons for doing so that satisfy the following two tests: We are confident there is a realistic prospect of reaching a sound, fair, and meaningful decision, and We are satisfied that Mr X could not reasonably be expected to have complained sooner.
I am not satisfied either test has been passed for the following reasons: As 24 years have passed we are less likely to be able to gather enough evidence to reach a sound judgement. Even if some evidence is available, we will have difficulties with reliability, and being able to see a full picture.
There will be great difficulty in proving causality given the events are 24 years ago.
Mr X has provided no reasons it has taken him until now to complain to us.
Final decision
We will not investigate this complaint. This is because there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman