Worcestershire County Council (23 002 145)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in the Council responding to Ms X’s complaint about an incident which happened to her brother. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Ms X.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about delay in the Council responding to her complaint about an incident which happened to her brother.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), 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
- Ms X says her brother suffered a serious incident and severe injury while at a day centre in 2019. She complained about the matter to the Council at the time. The Council advised her it would respond to the complaint once it had completed its safeguarding enquiries.
- The Council completed its safeguarding enquiries in 2020. Ms X asked the Council to respond to her complaint.
- The Council did not respond to Ms X’s complaint until March 2023. The Council accepted fault with the significant delay with its handling of her complaint. The Council also confirmed the safeguarding had substantiated the concerns raised.
- If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault with the Council as it has accepted there has been significant delays, over three years, in responding to the complaint.
- Given the significant delay, it is appropriate for the Council to remedy the distress and frustration caused. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions by making a financial payment of £300 to resolve the complaint early.
Agreed action
- To its credit, the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within four weeks of the final decision statement.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Ms X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman