Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (22 001 131)
Category : Children's care services > Looked after children
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 15 May 2022
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s care of the complainant’s grandchildren. This is because the complaint is late and there are no grounds to consider it now.
The complaint
- The complainant, who I will refer to as Miss B, complains that the Council has failed to act on concerns about the welfare of her grandchildren.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss B is the maternal grandmother of children who are in the Council’s care. She complains that the Council failed to act on her concerns about the children’s welfare. The children are now the subject of adoption orders.
- The evidence shows that Miss B complained to the Council about its actions in February 2021. The complaint concerned the actions of social workers in respect of contact, safeguarding and the outcome of a suitability assessment the Council carried out. The Council made its final response to the complaint in April 2021.
- We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint because it is late. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us. Miss B complained to the Council in February 2021, so the issues about which she complained took place earlier than this. Her complaint is therefore late
- There are no grounds for the Ombudsman to investigate the complaint now. This is because the children have been the subject of legal action and the Court has decided matters relating to their care. That being the case, the Ombudsman’s involvement would achieve nothing significant.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint because it is late and there are no grounds to consider it now.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman