Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about adult social care. This is because it is a late complaint. The complainant knew about the issues he complains about more than 12 months ago and there is no good reason he could not have pursued them sooner. We will not consider complaint handling where we are not looking at the issues complained about. But even if we did, the Council has accepted fault, acknowledged the impact and acted to improve future service. It is unlikely we would add to the Council’s investigation or achieve anything further.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains about a social workers conduct and lack of engagement which might have impacted decisions about his relative, Ms C’s, care support. Mr B is unhappy with the way the Council completed its complaint investigation and worries for other vulnerable people.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mr B complains about a Council officer’s conduct during a meeting in June 2023. Mr B complained to the Council at the time and had its responses in September and December 2023.
7. Mr B’s concerns about the officer’s conduct are over 12 months old and Mr B has given no good reason why he could not complain to the Ombudsman sooner. Mr B’s concerns about the Council’s complaint handling are from the last 12 months as he received the Council’s final complaint response less than 12 months before he complained to the Ombudsman. However, it is not a good use of public resources to look at the Council’s complaints handling if we are not going to look at the substantive issue complained about. We will not therefore investigate this issue separately.
8. Even if we exercised discretion to consider this late complaint, I do not consider it would warrant an Ombudsman investigation. The Council accepts failures in its conduct, it has apologised to Mr B and offered him £250 to acknowledge the impact on him. Ms C has since died and so no remedy can be provided to her for any impact. The Council has also taken action to improve future service including complaints training by the investigation manager. It is unlikely an Ombudsman investigation would add to the Council’s findings or reach a different outcome.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Mr B’s complaint because the substantive issues of the complaint are late, and we would not investigate complaint handling as a standalone issue. But even if we did, we would not add to the Council’s actions or reach a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman