Summary: Ms B is a care leaver and complained about the lack of support she received from the Council. The Council failed to properly investigate Ms B’s complaint under the statutory complaints procedure for complaints about children services. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms B and investigate the complaint under the statutory procedure.

The complaint

1. Ms B is a care leaver. She complains that the Council has:
• Lost a lot of her belongings and this cost her a lot of money.
• Spent her leaving care grant (setting up home allowance) on the deposit and rent for a flat when the purpose of the grant is to help her buy essential things to move into her own home.
• Did not consult her on how the leaving care grant was spent. She spent £500 of her own money on furniture and appliances for the new flat.
• Did not provide her with the support of a personal adviser for three months.
• Did not provide her with the financial top-up which it said it would provide.
• Failed to provide her with practical and financial support. She says she cannot pay her bills and will be homeless. She says this is affecting her mental health.
• Failed to reply to her complaint.

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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 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 a council’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 documents the Council and Ms B have sent, the relevant law and guidance and Ms B’s and the Council’s responses to the draft decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

5. There are legal requirements and statutory guidance called ‘Getting the Best from Complaints’ which tells councils how to handle complaints about children social services. They set out who can complain and what they can complain about.
6. There are three stages to the statutory social services complaints procedure. The first stage allows a local resolution of the complaint. If that is not possible, the complainant is entitled to an independent investigation of the complaint. At stage 2 of this procedure, the Council appoints an Investigating Officer who leads the investigation and provides a written report. The Council also appoints an Independent Person to oversee the investigation.
7. The investigation should be completed and the report sent to the young person within 25 days although this may be extended under certain circumstances.
8. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage 2 investigation, they can ask for a stage 3 review. This has to be carried by a Review Panel which must consist of three independent people who cannot be a member nor an officer of the Council.
9. The guidance says the Review Panel ‘may include financial compensation or other action within a specified framework to promote resolution’.
10. If, after receiving the Council’s final response, the complainant remains dissatisfied, she can submit a complaint to the Ombudsman.
11. The guidance also says the Council should support the young person by actively providing information and advice and it says the young person is entitled to advocacy support that is independent and confidential.

What happened

12. Ms B made a complaint on 23 March 2018. The Council’s responded under stage 1 of its corporate complaints procedure on 5 April 2018 and did not uphold her complaint. Ms B was not satisfied with the response and asked to escalate her complaint to stage 2. The Council provided its stage 2 response on 7 February 2019 and did not uphold the majority of Ms B’s complaint.

Analysis

13. Ms B is a care leaver who complained about the support she received from the Council. She is therefore entitled to an investigation under the statutory procedure. The procedure was set up to help young people such as Ms B.
14. The Council’s failure to investigate Ms B’s complaint under the statutory procedure is fault. Ms B was also not offered an advocate, to assist her in the complaint and this is further fault.
15. Ms B has suffered an injustice as a result of the fault. She did not have the benefit of an independent investigation of her complaint nor the support of an advocate. She therefore does not know what the outcome of her complaint would have been if the Council had properly investigated her complaint.
16. The Ombudsman takes the view that the Council should complete the statutory complaints procedure before the Ombudsman will consider a complaint. A complaint to the Ombudsman is the final point in the statutory complaints process.
17. The guidance describes the circumstances in which a council can make an early referral to the Ombudsman. This can only happen if there has been a robust stage 2 report under the statutory procedure, the complaints have all been upheld and the majority of the complainant’s desired outcomes have been met. That is not the case here.
18. In March 2015, the Ombudsman issued a Focus Report about children’s social care complaints. He found that a common problem was a refusal by councils to allow complainants to go through all stages of the statutory complaints procedure. In this report, it was clarified that the Ombudsman would be unlikely to accept complaints brought early except if the early referral criteria had been met.
19. I propose that the Council treats the complaint response it has given so far as a stage 1 response under the statutory procedure and now properly investigates Ms B’s complaint at stage 2 of the statutory process.

Agreed action

20. The Council will take the following action within 4 weeks of the final decision:
• Apologise in writing to Ms B for the fault.
• Appoint an Investigating Officer and an Independent Person to start the investigation into her complaint under the statutory complaints procedure for complaints about children services.

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Final decision

21. I have completed my investigation and found fault by the Council. The Council has agreed the remedy to address the injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman