The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this late complaint about safeguarding Mr X as a child. Mr X could have complained to us much sooner and there is no good reason to exercise discretion to investigate these matters now.
The complaint
Mr X said the Council failed to safeguard him as a child and he was groomed by family members and criminals.
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.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We do not usually investigate late matters. But we may do so if a person was unaware of a matter until recently, or if they were unable to complain to us sooner. We would not have expected Mr X to have complained as a child about events he was aware of then, or to complain immediately he became an adult. But the matters he now complains of are not sexual matters, they occurred more than a decade ago, and he has been an adult for most of that time.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint. The matters complained of are late and there is no good reason to exercise the discretion to us to consider them now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman