Summary: Miss X complained that the Council failed to investigate her complaints properly. We have decided to discontinue our investigation because the Council has agreed to investigate Miss X’s concerns about the contents of a Court report prepared by the Council. I am therefore closing the complaint.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained to the Council about children services’ actions concerning child protection matters. The Council investigated the complaint at stage one of its corporate complaints’ procedure, but it did not allow Miss X to escalate the complaint to stage two.
2. This meant that Miss X considered that she had not had the opportunity to have her complaints properly investigated by the Council.

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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.
4. 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 future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended).
5. As part of private legal proceedings involving children, the court may ask the council’s children services to prepare a section 7 or 37 report. We cannot investigate complaints about these reports because they are part of legal proceedings.
6. 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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What I have and have not investigated

7. I am only looking at the way the Council has dealt with Miss X’s complaint. I am not looking at the substantive issues concerning child protection matters.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and by the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. I issued a draft decision statement to the Council and to Miss X. I have taken into account their further comments before reaching a final decision.

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What I found

The Council’s corporate complaint procedure

10. The Council has a two stage corporate complaints’ process. Stage two is a formal investigation carried out by an appropriate member of staff who has had no involvement in the matter.
11. The Council’s policy states that, where progression to stage two would not be of benefit to either party, the Council may refuse escalation. One reason for refusing a stage two is where the Council considers any further investigation would not achieve any more for the complainant.

Key facts

12. In November 2024, a team manager from children services wrote to Miss X with the Council’s stage one response to her complaints. There were six complaints. Only one complaint was partially upheld. Miss X says that the team manager did not speak to her about the complaints, that there were factual inaccuracies and she did not agree with the findings.
13. The team manager told Miss X that she could ask for her complaints to be escalated to stage two which would involve a formal investigation.
14. Miss X asked for her complaints to be escalated. The Council’s complaint officer considered her request. He explained that the stage one officer was not required to speak to the complainant if that officer was satisfied that they already understood the points fully. The complaints officer said that the stage one officer considered they had fully understood the complaints, and moreover nothing would be achieved by carrying out a stage two investigation.
15. Miss X complained to us. We raised a concern with the Council about its approach. But the Council remained unwilling to escalate Miss X’s complaints to stage two in accordance with its own guidance.
16. While we had concerns about this approach, the Council has now agreed to undertake a new investigation into a significant part of Miss X’s complaint, namely her concerns about a court section 7 report, which the Council had not considered previously.

Decision

17. The Council has agreed to start an investigation into Miss X’s complaint about the section 7 report. I consider this is an appropriate way forward, especially as we cannot investigate matters relating to court proceedings.
18. I am therefore discontinuing our investigation and am closing the complaint.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman