Summary: Mrs B complained about the Council’s lack of special guardianship support, and that it has delayed investigating her complaint. She says she feels let down by the Council and she would like it to provide financial support to her until the child is an adult. I have ended my investigation of Mrs B’s complaint. It was reasonable for Mrs B to accept the Council’s offer of a fresh stage two investigation, and it is not likely we could achieve the outcome Mrs B would like.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains about the Council’s lack of special guardianship support, and that it has delayed investigating her complaint through the statutory children’s complaint procedure.
2. Mrs B says she feels let down by the Council and she would like it to provide financial support to her until the child turns 18 years old.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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:
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants; or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
4. It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read Mrs B’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the phone.
6. I considered information provided by Mrs B and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Mrs B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Special Guardianship orders and allowances

8. Special Guardianship is an order made by the Family Court that places a child or young person to live with someone other than their parent(s) on a long-term basis. The person with whom a child is placed will become the child’s Special Guardian.
9. Government guidance on the Special Guardianship Regulations sets out the circumstances in which councils should provide financial support to a Special Guardian. These include situations where there is a financial obstacle to a guardianship arrangement being made, and where the child requires special care. There is no overall obligation on councils to provide support in every case in which a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) is made.

The statutory children’s complaint procedure

10. 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. We also published practitioner guidance on the procedures, setting out our expectations.

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What happened

11. This is a summary of events outlining key facts and it does not include everything that has happened in this case.
12. The Council considered Mrs B’s complaint about the lack of special guardianship support through the statutory children’s complaint procedure. In Spring 2025, at stage three of the procedure, the stage three panel decided it was not satisfied that the stage two investigation had reached fair findings based on the evidence available. As such, it said it was unable to reach a conclusion, and a fresh stage two investigation should be carried out.
13. The Council wrote to Mrs B shortly after. It offered her a financial remedy of £300 to acknowledge the time and trouble caused to her. The Council also told Mrs B to let it know if she wished to proceed with the fresh stage two investigation. Mrs B accepted the financial remedy and told the Council she did not wish to continue with a fresh stage two investigation. Mrs B brought the complaint to us three months later.
14. I asked Mrs B her reason for bringing the complaint to us, having previously accepted a payment from the Council and declining a fresh investigation at stage two of the statutory children’s complaint procedure. She told me she did not wish to proceed at the time of the Council’s offer as it was stressful. As such, she said she waited for three months and then referred her complaint to us.

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Analysis

15. I have ended my investigation of Mrs B’s complaint. It was reasonable for Mrs B to accept the Council’s offer of completing a fresh stage two investigation and then approach our service once the statutory children’s complaint procedure had been completed. Mrs B instead accepted the Council’s financial remedy and did not pursue the Council’s offer of a fresh stage two investigation.
16. In cases where fault with a statutory children’s stage two investigation is identified, or where the statutory children’s complaint procedure has not yet been completed, we would usually recommend a council carry out a fresh stage two investigation or complete the complaint procedure without delay. But in this case, the Council has already made an offer of this to Mrs B which she declined. As such, it would not be appropriate for us to consider Mrs B’s complaint, and it would not be reasonable for us to ask the Council to carry out a fresh stage two investigation almost a year after it already offered to do so.
17. Further, Mrs B’s desired outcome is for the Council to provide financial support to her until the child turns 18 years old. An investigation by us of Mrs B’s complaint is not likely to result in this outcome.

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Decision

18. I have ended my investigation and do not uphold Mrs B’s complaint. It was reasonable for Mrs B to accept the Council’s offer of a fresh stage two investigation, and it is not likely we could achieve the outcome Mrs B would like.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman