The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about a safeguarding referral investigation in July 2023 as there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.
The complaint
Mrs X complains about the way the Council carried out a safeguarding referral investigation in July 2023.
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 X which included the Council’s reply to her complaint.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
In early November 2024 Mrs X complained to the Council about a safeguarding referral investigation carried out in July 2023. She says it was a malicious referral and was unhappy with the Council’s investigation. The Council replied at stage one in December 2024 and stage two in March 2025.
There is a 22 month gap between the incident and Mrs X’s complaint to us. Only four months of that gap is taken up by the Council’s complaint procedure. We cannot investigate events known to Mrs X for more than 12 months without good reasons. Here there are no good reasons.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman