Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a Council child protection plan requirement made in March 2022. This is more than 12 months ago and there are no reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.

The complaint

1. Mr X says the Council should not have had a child protection plan requirement of three days attending nursery. He says he incurred unnecessary costs.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mr X says the Council held a child protection conference for his family in March 2022. He says the conference recommended a requirement that his child attend a nursery for three days a week. He says there was only funding for two days. This meant he had to pay for the third day. He says a family member could have cared for the child free on that day.
6. He complained to the Council in the Autumn of 2024. It said Mr X had complained to the conference at the time and had appealed to it. It referred Mr X back to the child protection conference complaints’ process.
7. We cannot investigate complaints about events known to a complainant for more than 12 months unless there are good reasons to do so. There are no reasons to do so here.

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Final decision

8. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman