Summary: Mrs B complained that the Council had failed to consider her complaint properly through the statutory complaints procedure and had failed to offer her a carer’s assessment. We found fault with the Council initially considering the complaint through its corporate complaints process. It has now agreed to put the complaint through the statutory procedure at stage two and consider all the issues Mrs B has raised including the carer’s assessment, which is a satisfactory resolution.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complained that Leicester City Council (the Council) failed to consider her complaint about children’s services for her son C, under the statutory complaints procedure and failed to provide her with a carer’s assessment. This caused Mrs B distress, frustration and inconvenience.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 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)
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

4. I have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, and the Council. I have also considered the guidance on the statutory children’s complaints procedure, the Ombudsman’s focus report ‘Are we getting the best from children’s social care complaints?’ published in March 2015 and guide for practitioners about the statutory complaints procedure published in March 2021.
5. Mrs B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
6. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share the final decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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What I found

Statutory complaints procedure

7. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at most complaints about children’s social care services. 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.
8. Stage one should be completed in a maximum of 20 working days, stage two in 25 working days (with an extension to 65 working days permitted where appropriate) and stage three within approximately 50 working days, in total 27 weeks.
9. The accompanying statutory guidance, Getting the Best from Complaints, explains councils’ responsibilities in more detail.
10. The guidance says who can complain and what they can complain about. It says complaints can be made by any child (or parent of theirs) who is in need. The complaint can be about all functions of the Council under part three of the Childrens Act 1989, including disputed decisions, concerns about the appropriateness of a service, the quantity, frequency, change or cost of a service and assessment care management and review.

Parent carer assessments

11. Section 17ZD of the Childrens Act 1989 states that a council must assess the needs of a parent carer where they have requested an assessment and the council is satisfied that the disabled child cared for and the disabled child's family, are persons for whom they may provide or arrange for the provision of services under section 17 .

What happened

12. Mrs B’s son C has ADHD and autism and requires extra support at school. In July 2022 Mrs B’s sister requested social care support for the family in the form of respite care or a day service for C. In September 2022 the Council’s disabled children’s service carried out a ‘short breaks assessment’. It concluded that C was entitled to four hours of short breaks per week and provided Mrs B with details of places offering activities and services.
13. In October 2022 Mrs B said she was struggling to find many suitable options, apart from one which was much more expensive than the Council’s hourly rate allowed for. She also asked for a carer’s assessment due to the impact of caring for C and the effect on her wellbeing, job and the rest of the family. The Council said the short breaks team did not do separate carer assessments but took account of the impact on her as part of its assessment. It offered to refer her to the early help team if she wanted a carer’s assessment. Mrs B denies this was offered.
14. Mrs B was unhappy with the response about the assessment and the availability of support options for her son. The Council met with Mrs B and her sister in November 2022 to discuss the issues. After this the Council sent her the link to the statutory children’s complaints procedure.
15. Mrs B also complained to her local councillor and in February 2023 the Council increased the support during the school holidays. In April 2023 the short breaks service C was attending said he needed 2:1 care. Mrs B asked the Council to increase funding for this. During May 2023 the Council observed C at the service but did not agree he needed 2:1 care and questioned whether the setting was safe for him. Over the next few months, the Council suggested several other options but none had places or were suitable. Mrs B tried a personal assistant at home to look after C, but this did not work out.
16. In September 2023 Mrs B made a formal complaint about the assessment done by the disabled children’s service, including the refusal to increase C’s personal budget to meet his and Mrs B’s needs, the refusal to consider Mrs B’s needs as a carer.
17. On 18 September 2023 the Council decided that Mrs B’s complaint should be dealt with under the corporate complaints procedure because C was not a service user of children’s social care but had an Education, Health and Care plan (for his special educational needs). It also said it no longer had a Disabled Children’s Service.
18. The Council replied to the complaint on 28 September 2023. It repeated its response that the short breaks team did not do carer’s assessments as it did not focus on day-to-day parenting responsibilities. It said if families required support with parenting issues, then they could be referred to the early help team. But as there did not appear to be a concern around Mrs B’s parenting capability it had not done this. It also said four hours a week of support appeared to be sufficient for a child of C’s age.
19. In October 2023 Mrs B complained to us.
20. We invited the consider the complaint under the statutory procedure at stage two. The Council initially said it would consider the request but pointed out that Mrs B had not mentioned this was her preferred course of action during recent contact.
21. The Council has now agreed to start a stage two investigation.

Analysis

22. I welcome the Council’s agreement to consider Mrs B’s complaint under the statutory procedure. It was fault not to do so in September 2023: Mrs B had complained about an assessment for her son, the provision of services from the Council, a lack of a carer’s assessment for her and a dispute about the amount of C’s personal budget. These are all matters which should be considered under the statutory complaints procedure and I hope that they are now considered properly under this procedure within the timescales set down in the law and guidance.
23. It was also fault for the Council to suggest to us that it was not the correct route to follow because Mrs B had not mentioned it. It is not for the complainant to highlight that the Council had used the wrong complaints procedure and the fact Mrs B had complained to us should have been a strong enough signal for the Council to accept the complaint back into the statutory procedure, regardless of whether Mrs B had raised it again with the Council.

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Final decision

24. I have completed my investigation as the agreement by the Council to carry out a stage two investigation is an appropriate remedy for the injustice caused to Mrs B.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman