Summary: Mr B complains the Council has not arranged for contact with children and has not suitably considered his complaint. The Ombudsman finds fault with the Council for not considering Mr B’s complaint under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. This is fault causing delay and injustice to Mr B. The Council has agreed to consider Mr B’s complaint under the statutory complaints process.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains the Council has failed to arrange contact with his children.
2. Mr B also complains the Council has lost some of the communication he provided for his children.
3. Mr B complains the Council has failed to understand the impact this has had on him and his children.
4. Mr B also complains the Council has not suitably considered his complaint.

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What I have investigated

5. I am investigating Mr B’s complaint about the Council not properly considering his complaint. The rest of Mr B’s complaint is best considered by the Council in the first instance, as this is the best place to remedy any injustice.
6. If Mr B remains unhappy once he has completed the Council’s complaints process, he can submit a new complaint to the Ombudsman for the rest of the issues.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

7. 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)
8. 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

9. I considered Mr B’s complaint and information from his representative. I considered comments from Mr B and the Council on my draft decision.
10. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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What I found

11. Mr B has children who are looked after by the Council. Mr B is supposed to have on going contact with his children as per an agreement with the Council.
12. Mr B complains the Council has not arranged the agreed contact. Mr B also complains the Council has lost communication meant for his children.
13. Additionally, Mr B complains the Council has not appropriately considered his complaint.
14. The Council has not yet investigated Mr B’s complaint through the statutory complaints process.
15. Mr B remains concerned that he has not had contact with his children and they have not received any communication from him. He is concerned that the Council’s actions will cause emotional distress to his children and impact the relationship he has with them.

Analysis

16. The Council has a statutory obligation to consider complaints about issues such as Mr B’s under the children’s statutory complaints process. This gives the opportunity for an independent person to investigate Mr B’s complaint.
17. The Ombudsman expects a complaint to complete the Council’s complaints process before he will investigate. In this case, the Council has failed to appropriately consider Mr B’s complaint, or consider it under the statutory complaints process. This is fault and has caused delay and uncertainty to Mr B.
18. I have addressed the issue of the statutory complaints process separately with the Council and this will remain under close review. The Council has a duty to investigate complaints under this procedure and it cannot expect complainants to complain to the Ombudsman instead of exercising their right to an independent stage two and stage three investigation.

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Agreed action

19. Within 4 weeks of my final decision the Council will begin the process of considering Mr B’s complaint under the statutory complaints process. It will also apologise to Mr B for the delay and distress caused by not appropriately considering his complaint.

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Final decision

20. I have now completed my investigation. I find fault with the Council for not appropriately considering Mr B’s complaint, and for failing to consider the complaint under the statutory complaints process.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman