Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s fairly to properly investigate and support her when her child was coming out of school with bump notes. There is insufficient evidence of fault in the statutory children’s complaints process to justify us re-investigating and it is unlikely that further investigation would lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to properly investigate and provide support to her when her disabled son, Y, was coming out of primary school with bump notes. She says Council failings affected her physical and mental health.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

What happened

5. Y, a disabled child, was subject to a child protection plan (CPP) from 2019. Ms X told the Council he was falling at his primary school and was regularly coming out of school with bump notes. She asked the Council to investigate and provide support for the family. In October 2020, she made a formal complaint about its failure to do so, amongst other things.
6. The Council considered the complaint at all three stages of the statutory children’s complaints process. It issued its final adjudication, following a stage 3 panel, in November 2023. This element of the complaint was not upheld at all three stages. Ms X remained unhappy and complained to us in June 2024. As she did not provide evidence the Council’s complaints process had been completed, we did not agree to consider her complaint at that point, and she resubmitted her complaint in June 2025.

My assessment

7. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. The accompanying statutory guidance, ‘Getting the Best from Complaints’, explains councils’ responsibilities in more detail.
8. The statutory children’s complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough and prompt response to their concerns. Because of this, if a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it.
9. However, we may look at whether there were any flaws in the process that could call the findings into question. We may also consider whether a council properly considered the findings and recommendations of the independent investigation and review panel.
10. In this case, the Council has investigated Ms X’s complaint at all three stages of the statutory children’s complaints process and there is insufficient evidence of flaws in the process to justify us re-investigating it. Further, the records show the Council accepted the findings and recommendations at stage 2 and 3.
11. In addition, given the lapse of time since the events complained about, it is unlikely that further investigation by us would lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the statutory children’s complaints process to justify further investigation and it is unlikely that further investigation would lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman