The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has dealt with the care needs of the complainants children. This is because some of the complaint is about matters that happened too long ago and other elements are now subject to court proceedings.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Miss X, complains about how the Council has dealt with the care needs of her son who is a looked after child. She also complains about the Council’s involvement in her daughter’s Asperger’s assessment.
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) We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, 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
Miss X complained to the Council in 2018 about matters relating to the care needs of her son and about matters relating to an assessment for Asperger’s for her daughter. The Council provided a stage one complaint response in May 2018, advising Miss X how she could progress her complaint to stage two. In 2019, Miss X asked the Ombudsman to investigate her complaint but we told her she would need to first complete the Council’s complaints process.
The Council say Miss X did not contact it again about her complaint, but has recently raised new concerns about her son’s care needs.
I will not investigate the issues Miss X raised with the Council in 2018, because these events happened too long ago and I see no reason why Miss X could not have completed the Council’s complaints process at the time and asked the Ombudsman to investigate them sooner.
I cannot investigate the issues Miss X recently complained to the Council about. This is because they relate to the care needs of her son. Her son’s care needs are currently the subject of legal proceedings which are being considered in the Court of Protection. The Ombudsman cannot investigate any matters that are subject to legal proceedings.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because some elements are made late and some are subject to legal proceedings.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman