Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council's actions while she was a looked after child. There are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply. And we cannot investigate information given to a Court.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, says the Council failed to care for her properly when she was a looked after child.

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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 cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X is now 27. She says another Council began caring for her when she was around five years old. She says she then moved to live with a relative in this Council’s area. She says her care was not good enough. She says the Council did not properly liaise with CAMHS. She says she would like answers on why she feels no one cared about her treatment. She thought the Council was supposed to help her.
7. Miss X also says she is involved in a court case about the care of her own children. She says the Council provided the Court with inaccurate information.

Analysis

8. We cannot investigate the information the Council gave a Court.
9. We should not dis-apply the late complaint rule in this case because it does not satisfy the following two tests:
• I am not confident there is a realistic prospect of reaching a sound, fair, and meaningful decision. This is particularly so as it will be difficult to prove the material facts with reasonable confidence due to the age of events. It will be more difficult to gather enough evidence to reach a sound judgement. Even if some evidence is available, it would be problematic to ensure it is reliable, and provides a full picture. Given the time passed, it is going to be too difficult to show how Council fault directly caused Miss X’s an injustice. And,
• I am not satisfied Miss X could not reasonably be expected to have complained sooner.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply and we cannot investigate evidence given to a Court.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman