The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s alleged failure to discuss Mr X’s care arrangements with his relative Mrs Y. This is because the complaint concerns events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable to bring the complaint to us sooner.
The complaint
Mrs Y complained the Council failed to inform her about her relative Mr Y’s care arrangements or provide her with the details of his financial assessment. She also complained the Council failed to follow up funding Mr Y may have been eligible for.
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 Mrs Y and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs Y received a letter in August 2022 informing her of outstanding care fees incurred by her late father Mr X between December 2021 and March 2022.
Mrs Y complained to the Council because she felt Mr X’s funding arrangements were not made clear to her as the person responsible for managing his affairs. She also questioned the assessments carried out in relation to the decision to class Mr X as a self-funder.
The Council investigated and provided Mrs Y with its final response in November 2022. The Council said there was evidence it discussed Mr X’s care arrangements with her, and it provided her with records of the assessments carried out in 2021. The Council did not uphold most of the complaint and determined the outstanding care charges were valid. Mrs X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman as she was unhappy with the Council’s response.
The Ombudsman will not usually exercise discretion to investigate complaints that the complainant became aware of more than 12 months prior to bringing the complaint to our attention. In this case, Mrs Y has been aware of this matter since August 2022 and so we would expect this matter to have been referred to us sooner. There is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate this complaint now.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs Y’s complaint because it concerns events that took place more than 12 months ago; it would have been reasonable for her to bring the complaint to us sooner.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman