Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Council care charges billed to the complainant’s late mother in 2022. The complainant disputes the care charges and says the Council has handled her concerns poorly which has caused her stress, time and trouble. However, the complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise our discretion and accept this now. We therefore have no jurisdiction to investigate the issues raised.

The complaint

1. The complainant (Ms Q) complains about charges billed by the Council for her late mother’s (Mrs X) care and support in 2021. In summary, Ms Q says the Council’s handling of her concerns has been poor and that manner it has perused the charges has caused her considerable stress, time and trouble. As a desired outcome, she wants the Council to waive the care charges.

Back to top

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).

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council. I also considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

4. The complaint concerns care charges billed for Mrs X’s care in 2021 which Ms Q does not consider ought to be payable. Mrs X died in September 2022 and by Ms Q’s own account this is when she received notice of the disputed care costs. On receipt of the Council’s invoice, Ms Q promptly took to appealing these. On this basis, I consider Ms Q has had knowledge of the issues subject to this complaint since late 2022. I also noted the Council provided a final complaint response to Ms Q covering the issues raised in July 2023. The complaint is therefore late.
5. The legal restriction I outline at paragraph three (above) inserts a time limit for a member of the public to bring their complaint to the attention of the Ombudsman. Its intention is two-fold: to provide us with the best opportunity of arriving at a robust, evidence-based decision on complaints about recent events and to ensure fairness by enabling us to decline an investigation into historic matters, which could and should have formed the basis of a complaint to us far sooner.
6. I have considered exercising my discretion but see no good reason for the complaint being brought to us some 14 months after the Council’s final response to Ms Q. I note there is more recent correspondence from the Council to Ms Q however this affirms its earlier responses and does not present new issues.
7. The substantive issues raised by Ms Q have been known to her for well over 12 months and could therefore have been brought to us sooner. The impact of this delay would mean us investigating issues which occurred in 2021 which, given the passage of time, would now present challenges to us collecting evidence and investigating the alleged fault with accuracy. I will not exercise my discretion.

Back to top

Final decision

8. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because the restriction I outline at paragraph three (above) applies.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman