The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that she missed school for several years as a child because of safeguarding failings by the Council. This is because the historical failings she complains of happened many years ago and therefore her complaint is late. I have seen no reason why Mrs X could not have come to us sooner.
The complaint
Mrs X complains that the Council has failed to respond to her complaint regarding safeguarding failures that Mrs X says happened when she was a child.
She said that she missed three years of school due to neglect by the education services. Mrs X would like us to investigate the failings.
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 Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
We will also not investigate the historical safeguarding matters Mrs X raised because this part of her complaint is late. I have seen no reason why she could not have come to us much sooner.
Mrs X said the Council has not replied to her complaint. However, we do not usually investigate complaints about a Council’s complaint handling procedures if we are not investigating any substantive issues.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the safeguarding issues because they took place many years ago and are therefore late.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman