The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council refused to pay the complainant a foster carer retainer. This is because the complaint is made late, and I see no reason why it could not have been made sooner.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mrs X, complains that the Council refused to pay her a retainer after a foster care placement ended in April 2021, and she had not been given an appropriate placement for four weeks. She says other carers have been paid the retained under the same circumstances and the Council should treat all foster carers equally.
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
Mrs X’s foster care placement ended in April 2021. She complained to the Council at the time that it had not paid her a retainer for the four weeks after the end of the placement. The Council issues a response at stage one of its complaints process advising her how she could escalate her complaint within 21 days. Mrs X complained to the Council again in June 2022.
I will not investigate this complaint because the events happened more than 12 months ago, and it is therefore made late. I see no reason why Mrs X could not have asked the Council to escalate her complaint to the final stage of its complaints process in 2021. If she had done she would have been signposted to the Ombudsman and we may have considered it then.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because the events happened too long ago, and I see no reason why she could not have complained sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman