Summary: Miss X complained the Council delayed finalising its section 47 assessment and she had to constantly chase for updates. She also complained about the information the Council included in the assessment. Finally, she complained about how the Council dealt with her complaint. We find the Council was at fault for its delay in completing the assessment, its communication with Miss X and its complaints handling. This caused Miss X distress and uncertainty, and she lost the opportunity to access support sooner. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X, make a payment to her and write to her with an outcome on her complaint about her belongings.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council delayed finalising its section 47 assessment and she had to constantly chase for updates. She also complained the Council wrongly stated she was receiving support in the assessment. Finally, she complained how the Council dealt with her complaint. She says it took too long to respond, and it said it would investigate reimbursing her for her belongings but then failed to contact her about the matter further.
2. Miss X says the Council’s faults caused upset and distress and she was unable to access help in the area she moved to.

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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. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
5. 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(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Child Protection

8. Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to children’s social care and should do so immediately if there is a concern that the child is suffering significant harm or is likely to do so.
9. The council should make initial enquiries of agencies involved with the child and family, for example, health visitor, GP, schools and nurseries. The information gathering at this stage enables the council to assess the nature and level of any harm the child may be facing. The assessment may result in:

• no further action;
• a decision to carry out a more detailed assessment of the child’s needs; or
• a decision to convene a strategy meeting.

10. If the information gathered under section 47 supports concerns and the child may remain at risk of significant harm the social worker will arrange an initial child protection conference (ICPC). The ICPC decides what action is needed to safeguard the child. This might include making the child a ‘child in need’ (CiN) and implementing a safety plan.

What happened

11. The Council received a referral from the police with details of a violent incident towards Miss X from her former partner (Mr Z). The referral stated Miss X had been a victim of domestic abuse from Mr Z for a long time and their child (Y) had been exposed to this abuse. Miss X and Y had fled the home for safety.
12. The Council reviewed the referral and held a strategy meeting with several professionals. Professionals agreed the threshold was met for a section 47 enquiry because of the risk to Y.
13. The Council visited Miss X and Y. Miss X said she was moving to a new area under a different authority (Council B).
14. The Council assigned a social worker (Officer B) to the case. Officer B spoke to Miss X. The case notes state she advised Miss X to contact a domestic abuse charity for support. She also told Miss X to approach the housing department to declare herself homeless and that she was fleeing from domestic abuse.
15. Officer B spoke to Miss X the following week to go through the section 47 assessment. Miss X provided Officer B with her rehousing application to Council B. The notes of the call state Miss X said she had contacted a domestic abuse service (Agency C) for support. Officer B noted she no concerns about Miss X’s ability to safeguard Y.
16. Council B contacted the Council at the end of the following month and asked if they were aware of Y. A police officer from Council B’s area said they had emailed Officer B and had not received a response.
17. Officer B emailed Council B a few days later and said Y had moved to Council B’s area. She said the Council would close the case. An officer from Council B’s children’s services department responded and said Council B had not taken any action as the section 47 enquiry was still open. They said if there were any ongoing support needs Officer B would need to make a referral.
18. Miss X chased the Council the following month for an update on the section 47 assessment. The officer she spoke to explained Officer B had left. She said the section 47 assessment was waiting to be signed off by management.
19. Miss X complained to the Council two weeks later. She said Officer B delayed completing the section 47 assessment and her communication was poor. This had then delayed the support she could access from Council B.
20. Miss X called and emailed the Council one week after she had made her complaint. She said she could not get help for her housing under domestic abuse rules from other authorities as she was no longer classed as fleeing domestic abuse. The Council’s delay meant she had to stay in Council B’s area which was unsafe for her and Y.
21. The Council sent Miss X a copy of the section 47 assessment. This said Miss X had acted protectively and moved out of the area. Therefore, the risk to Y had reduced and there was no further role for children’s services.
22. Miss X responded and raised some concerns about inaccurate and missing information in the assessment. The Council responded and said it could not reopen a completed assessment. However, it had noted her concerns and put them on the file.
23. The Council sent a letter to Council B’s housing department on the same day. This said Miss X had fled domestic abuse and moved to Council B’s area. It also said it was not safe for Miss X and Y to live in the area where their family lived.
24. The Council responded to the complaint over a month later. It said Officer B left her position and failed to tell Miss X. This led to a delay in Miss X receiving the section 47 assessment. It apologised for this. It said Officer B spoke to Miss X. Miss X confirmed she was getting some support from agencies in Council B’s area. Officer B also contacted social care and housing in Council B’s area when Miss X moved there and there was no delay.
25. Miss X referred her complaint to stage two of the Council’s complaints procedure on the same day. She said she did not say she accessed support from domestic abuse agencies when she spoke to Officer B. She said she accessed support from a domestic abuse service (Agency D) in Council B’s area one month after she had spoken to Officer B. Most of the services she spoke said they could not provide support as the Council had not signed off the section 47 assessment. She also asked for further information on when it sent the supporting letters and when it referred her case to Council B.
26. Miss X made a separate complaint to the Council. She said Officer B told her she could not return to the Council’s area to pick up her belongings. This meant all her belongings were left behind. The Council spoke to Miss X about the complaint. It told Miss X it did not have funding for her belongings, and it had referred her to some charities. It said it would send a response in writing the following week.
27. Miss X chased the Council for a response to her initial complaint. She provided further information for it to consider.
28. The Council issued its final response to the complaint eight months after Miss X had escalated it to stage two. It said the files showed she had support from housing, Agency D and Council B’s children services. Therefore, the delay in completing the assessment did not lead to a delay in her accessing support. It repeated it apologies for its delay in completing the section 47 assessment and for the distress this caused.

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Analysis

29. The Council was at fault for its delay in finalising and sending Miss X the section 47 assessment. It took the Council two months from when it had all the relevant information from Miss X to finalise the assessment. It also missed its target date to complete the assessment by over seven weeks.
30. The Council was also at fault for its communication with Miss X. Officer B did not provide Miss X with any updates or explain she was leaving her post.
31. The Council’s faults outlined above have caused Miss X frustration and distress. Miss X and Y had suffered a traumatic experience, and the Council’s delays and poor communication compounded this.
32. The Council said its delays in completing the section 47 assessment did not affect Miss X’s access to support services. Agency D sent a letter to Miss X and said it should have accepted a self-referral from her. It was wrong to tell her that her case had to be transferred first before it could offer support. Therefore, any delay in Miss X not receiving support from Agency D was not because of any fault by the Council.
33. Council B’s children’s services department said it could not provide any support because the section 47 enquiry was still open. Therefore, the Council’s delay in completing the section 47 assessment and closing the case did impact how quickly Miss X and Y could get social care support. This caused distress and upset at an already difficult time.
34. Miss X made a housing application to Council B. This was before the Council had completed the section 47 assessment. However, the Council did not send its supporting letter to housing until after it had completed the assessment. There is no evidence it contacted housing before this. The letter explained Council B was not an appropriate area for Miss X to live in. Miss X says she had no guidance, which is why she applied to Council B. When she tried to apply to other authorities, they told her too much time had passed, and she was no longer fleeing domestic abuse. Miss X has some uncertainty about what the outcome would have been if the Council had closed the case and issued its supporting letter sooner.
35. The section 47 assessment states Miss X had established links with domestic abuse support services in Council B’s area. Miss X says this is the wrong information. She says she did not receive support from Agency D until the following month, and this was after Officer B had spoken to her.
36. I have reviewed Officer’s B note of her call with Miss X. Officer B said Miss X was getting support from Agency C. Agency C is in the Council’s area. She named the officer and the contact number for the office. There was no mention in the call of support from Agency D. The Council said in its stage two complaints response Officer B wrongly referred to Agency C when it should have been Agency D. However, I consider this is unlikely, especially as Officer B had provided Agency C’s number in the call notes.
37. Miss X also provided Officer B with an email from a support service. The officer from the service said they were hopeful Agency D would be in touch with her to complete an assessment. This suggests Miss X had some contact with Agency D, but she had not received any support yet. Therefore, the section 47 assessment lacked the full context on what support Miss X had received, and it was misleading. This caused Miss X some frustration. I note the Council has added Miss X’s comments on the assessment to the file. This is the correct approach.
38. The Council’s complaints procedure states it will aim respond to complaints at stage one within 10 working days. If the complaint is complex, it will respond within 20 working days. At stage two, the Council will respond within 20 working days. The Council delayed responding to Miss X’s complaint at both stages of its complaints procedure. Its stage two response was significantly delayed. This is fault which caused Miss X frustration, and she was put to time and trouble chasing a response.
39. The Council told Miss X in a telephone call it would provide a written response to her other complaint about her belongings. It failed to do so. This has caused Miss X further upset and frustration.

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Action

40. By 8 December 2025 the Council has agreed to:

• Apologise to Miss X for the injustice caused by fault in this statement.
• Pay Miss X £300 to reflect her distress, frustration, uncertainty and time and trouble.
• Write to Miss X with the outcome on her complaint about her belongings.

41. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

42. There was fault by the Council, which caused Miss X an injustice. The Council has agreed to my recommendations and so I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman