Summary: Mr B complains about the Council’s refusal to consider his complaint as it found it had already been considered in a completed children’s statutory complaint process. We found the Council at fault. This is because Mr B’s new complaint relates to matters which were different, a different period of time, and if upheld, may justify further remedies.

The complaint

1. The complainant, Mr B, complains the Council has wrongly refused to investigate and respond to his complaint against its Children’s Services team. He said its decision was based on false grounds as the issues had not been considered in his previous complaint, which has since completed the children’s statutory complaints process.
2. Mr B says, as a result, he has experienced distress due to the delays to have his new concerns addressed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with an organisation’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. As part of my investigation, I have:
• considered Mr B’s complaint and the Council’s response, including the content of his previous complaint investigated and responded to under the children’s statutory complaints process;
• discussed the complaint with Mr B and considered the information he provided; and
• had regard to the relevant law and guidance to the complaint.
6. Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
7. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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What I found

The statutory children’s complaints process

8. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. This includes decisions by the local authority to initiate care and supervision orders and the process can consider the quality of court reports.
9. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond. If a complainant is not happy with a council’s stage one response, they can ask that it is considered at stage two.
10. At stage two, councils appoint an investigator and an independent person who is responsible for overseeing the investigation. Councils have up to 13 weeks to complete stage two of the process from the date of request.
11. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel. The council must hold the panel within 30 days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 days of the panel hearing.
12. If a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it unless we consider the investigation was flawed. However, we may look at whether a council properly considered the findings and recommendations of the independent investigation.

Early referrals to the Ombudsman

13. The Ombudsman would normally expect a council and complainant to follow the full complaints procedure. The Guidance sets out the circumstances in which a complaint can be referred to the Ombudsman without completing all three stages. This can only happen when the stage two investigation is robust with all complaints upheld. Councils must show they agree to meet most of the complainant’s desired outcomes and have a clear action plan for delivery.
14. If both parties agree and the complaint has been upheld, the Ombudsman can deal with the complaint without the third stage. The Guidance also says that someone can complain to the Ombudsman at any time. The Ombudsman might exercise discretion to investigate in certain but rare circumstances.
15. The Ombudsman has published a focus report highlighting common failings in the way councils deal with complaints that are within the remit of the statutory children’s procedure. The practitioner guidance sets out our expectations on how statutory complaints should be handled and managed. It clarified that the Ombudsman would be unlikely to accept complaints brought early unless the early referral criteria had been met.

What happened

16. Mr B complained to the Council in 2021 about its Children Services team’s handling of a safeguarding referral from his child’s school. The complaint included issues around delays, poor standard of social work, lack of supervision of the social worker, and content and inaccuracies in a Child & Family assessment.
17. The Council investigated Mr B’s complaint through the children’s statutory complaints process. This process was delayed and was first completed in November 2023. Mr B included concerns about the delays in the complaints handling in his complaint, and this was considered through the investigation.
18. Following the conclusion of the three stages of the complaint process the Council accepted the findings and recommendations made. It apologised and provided the proposed remedy to Mr B.
19. Mr B raised a new complaint with the Council in June 2023. This complaint related to:
• a new Child & Family assessment completed by a different social worker, which he believed contained fabricated, inaccurate conclusions, and was used for a Child in Need conference which led to a Child Protection plan being put in place;
• the Council’s threats of starting legal proceedings to take his child into care and how it handled this;
• ongoing issues with behaviour and professionalism from its Children Services team; and
• an incident in early 2023 in which his child was taken into care, which he believes was as a result of poor practice and manipulation of evidence by the Council.
20. The complaint also made references to some elements of the, at the time, ongoing statutory children’s services complaint.
21. Mr B said in October 2023 the Council told him it would investigate his new complaint. This was as part of a meeting regarding to the initial children’s statutory complaint.
22. Mr B chased the Council for a response to his June 2023 complaint in February 2024, when the initial statutory complaint process had been completed and remedied.
23. A week later the Council told Mr B his issues around the Child & Family assessment had been addressed in the completed children’s statutory complaint. It was happy to amend the assessment and receive Mr B’s views. It also explained it had considered some of his new complaint points but was not satisfied the social worker had acted inappropriately.
24. The Council subsequently told Mr B it would not investigate his June 2023 complaint as it had already been investigated in the initial children’s statutory complaint process.
25. Mr B continued to dispute his new complaint had been investigated. He also told the Council the stage 3 panel had confirmed some points could not be included in its investigation. However, the Council did not change its view.

Analysis and findings

26. Mr B’s complaint is not about the initial children’s statutory complaint which was investigated and responded to in November 2023. I have therefore only considered this complaint for context to compare whether his new complaint is the same or if nothing further can be achieved from a new investigation.
27. I agree with the Council some points around internal processes where fault was found by the Council in the initial complaint, may not benefit from further investigation. This is because the Council had not yet had the opportunity to put the recommendations and improvements in place.
28. However, Mr B’s June 2023 complaint contains several distinguishable issues which was not covered in the initial children’s statutory complaint process, including the new Child & Family assessment and the incident and subsequent actions in early 2023. These issues, if upheld, also mean Mr B and his family may have experienced further injustice which has therefore not been remedied.
29. I have therefore found the Council at fault for its failure to accept and respond to Mr B’s June 2023 complaint. I am satisfied this has caused him some distress and uncertainty due to the significantly delayed opportunity to have his concerns investigated and responded to within the timescales required.
30. I cannot consider any potential injustice Mr B or his family may have experienced as a result of the substantive matters complained about to the Council. This is because this should be considered as part of the complaints process.

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Agreed action

31. To remedy the injustice the Council caused to Mr B, the Council should, within one month of the final decision:
1. apologise in writing to Mr B, and pay him £200 to acknowledge the distress and uncertainty the Council’s fault caused him.

We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.

2. respond to Mr B’s June 2023 complaint under stage one of the statutory children’s complaints procedure.

32. Within three months of the final decision the Council should also:
1.  
2.  
3.  
4. remind its complaints handling staff to properly consider whether a new complaint is different to previous or ongoing complaints from a complainant. If there are parts which has not been addressed through the complaints process, it should investigate and respond within the timescales for the children’s statutory complaints process, or its corporate complaints process (as appropriate).
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

34. There was fault by the Council, which caused Mr B an injustice. The Council has agreed with my recommendations, it is on this basis I have completed my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman