Manchester City Council (21 016 520)

Category : Children's care services > Disabled children

Decision : Upheld

Decision date : 10 May 2022

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mr X complained about the way a social worker dealt with his wife and son when his son was hospitalised. He also complained that the Council failed to provide appropriate support to the family for the last three years. We found the Council was at fault for not considering the complaint through the statutory children’s complaint process.

The complaint

  1. Mr X complains about the actions of a social worker when his son was hospitalised and in some distress. Mr X considers the social worker bullied his wife and son and he failed to take account of his son’s needs when discussing his discharge from hospital. Mr X and his wife were concerned that there would be insufficient support in place for their son after discharge.
  2. Mr X also complains that the Council had failed to properly consider their requests for greater support over the last three years and they failed to understand the family were in crisis and needed more help.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. The Ombudsman would normally expect a council and complainant to follow the full complaints procedure.
  2. 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)
  3. 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

  1. I spoke to Mr X and considered the information he provided us with. I considered the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction and the requirements of the statutory complaints process for complaints about children’s social care services.
  2. Mr 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

Children’s statutory complaints process

  1. Government guidance ‘Getting the best from complaints’ sets out which of a council’s children’s social care functions should be considered under the statutory complaints procedure. These include complaints about the Council’s actions relating to Children in Need.
  2. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
  3. At stage two of this procedure, the Council appoints an Investigating Officer and an Independent Person (who is responsible for overseeing the investigation). If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review.
  4. If a council has investigated something under this procedure, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate the issues unless he considers that investigation was flawed. However, he may look at whether a council properly considered the findings and recommendations of the independent investigation.

What happened

  1. Mr X’s son (referred to as Y in this statement) had a mental health crisis which resulted in the attendance of the police and paramedics. As a result, Y was temporarily sectioned and hospitalised.
  2. Mr X complained to the Council about the way that a social worker dealt with his wife and son while in hospital. He stated the social worker threatened and bullied his wife and son and did not take proper account of his son’s needs when discussing and pushing for Mr X’s wife to take Y home. Mr X and his wife found the social worker unprofessional. Mr X considered that it was inappropriate to seek discharge at that time because there was unacceptable risk and insufficient support in place.
  3. Mr X also complained that the family had been seeking additional support from the Council for the past three years and this had not been properly dealt with. He complained that workers supporting them lacked understanding of the issues the family were facing and their requests for support were not escalated appropriately.

Was there fault causing injustice

  1. The issues Mr X raised in his complaint related to the Council’s actions and the support provided in respect of their son, who us a Child In Need (CIN). The law requires certain complaints to be considered through the statutory children’s complaint investigation process. As Y was a CIN, the issues Mr X raised should have been considered through the statutory complaints process.
  2. The Council is at fault for dealing with Mr X’s complaint through its corporate complaints process rather than the statutory children’s complaints process. The Council should take action to consider the complaint through the statutory complaints process and apologise to Mr X for the failure to do so originally.
  3. I understand Mr X has brought three subsequent complaints. The Council should discuss whether it would be appropriate to consider some or all of the issues in these complaints when starting the statutory complaint investigation into the issues Mr X has raised with the Ombudsman here.
  4. Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.

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Agreed action

  1. Within four weeks of my final decision the Council agreed to:
    • Send a written apology to Mr X.
    • Start an investigation under the children’s statutory complaints procedure after agreeing with Mr X and his wife what should be included.
    • Use this case as an example to ensure staff dealing with complaints are aware of the circumstances when the statutory complaints process should be used for children’s social care services complaints.

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Final decision

  1. There was fault by the Council. I have now completed my investigation and closed my file.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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