Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a former employee of a Council-commissioned service. Complaints about their actions while employed by the Service are late and there is not a good reason for Mr X’s delay in bringing them to us. Events after the person left employment by the Service are not an administrative function of the Council, and we have no power to investigate them. In any event, we could not say any fault by the Service caused the injustice Mr X alleges.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about a former member of staff (Y) from a service jointly commissioned by three local authorities. Mr X’s complaint included the person’s actions while employed by the Service, during which time he said the person acted beyond their remit.
2. Mr X’s complaint is also about Y having set up a private practice after leaving employment with the Service. Mr X raised concerns about the work Y had carried out with Mr X’s wife in a private capacity, and said the private practice did not appear to be accountable to any regulatory body. He said Y’s private practice may have built its client base by porting clients from the Service.
3. Mr X said the matter has caused him significant distress and Y’s involvement led to his wife being trapped in a ‘highly agitated aggressive state’. He says this ultimately led to the breakdown of their relationship and disruption for his child. He raised concerns Y’s actions had targeted vulnerable people using the Service. He wanted the Service to provide information about Y and make service improvements to avoid similar situations occurring in future.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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 or body on its behalf has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. We cannot investigate complaints about actions which are not the administrative function of a council / organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(1) as amended).
6. We may investigate complaints made on behalf of someone else if they have given their consent. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(1), as amended)
7. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered information provided by the complainant.
9. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

10. Mr X’s complaint is about the actions of Y, who was formerly employed by the Council-commissioned Service. The Service ended in 2023 and Y set up a private practice. Mr X’s wife received support from Y both during his employment with the Service and via his private practice.
11. Mr X’s complaint includes concerns about Y’s actions while employed by the Service until 2023. These concerns include Y having acted outside the boundaries of their role, and having ported clients from the Service in order to build their private client base.
12. Mr X says he first complained about Y acting outside the remit of their role in February 2023. While he says his concerns escalated following that, he had sufficient reason to complain in February 2023. The law says people must bring complaints to us within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter. Mr X could have escalated the matter at that time, and there is not a good reason for the subsequent delay.
13. The actions of Y as part of a private practice are not an administrative function of the Council. We therefore have no power to investigate Y’s private practice.
14. Any matters we could investigate, if we decided there was good reason to investigate late matters, are matters we would not investigate in any event.
15. Mr X’s wife was the person receiving support from Y at the service. Mr X declined to seek his wife’s consent to us investigating a complaint on her behalf. We cannot consider the injustice Mr X claimed Y’s actions had for his wife. Mr X’s wife could have complained herself if she had concerns about the service she received and the impact on her.
16. We could not say any actions of Y whilst employed by the Service were the cause of the relationship difficulties Mr X and his wife experienced, the subsequent breakdown of their marriage or Mr X’s subsequent distress. We could not say, in any event, any fault by the Service caused the injustice Mr X claims.

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Final decision

17. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because it relates to matters that are late and not an administrative function of the Council, and we ultimately could not say the Service caused the injustice Mr X claims.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman