Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to suspend the complaints process. It is unlikely we would find fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Miss X, says the Council has refused to reply to her complaint.

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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
• any fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
5. I considered Miss X’s comments on a draft version of this decision.

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My assessment

6. Miss X complained in March 2021 about where she had been provided accommodation and support as a looked after young person. The Council replied in early May 2021.

The statutory complaints procedure

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 first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
9. If a complainant is not happy with a council’s stage one response, they can ask that it is considered at stage two. At this stage of the procedure, councils appoint an investigator and an independent person who is responsible for overseeing the investigation. Councils have up to 13 weeks to complete stage two of the process from the date of request.
10. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel. The Council must hold the panel within 30 days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 days of the panel hearing.
11. The Council says it has suspended the complaints process as lawyers on Miss X’s behalf have been in contact about issuing court proceedings for Human Rights breaches. The Council says it understands Miss X lawyers have a meeting with her shortly to discuss this.
12. The complaints’ procedure guidance allows for councils to suspend the complaints process when there are ongoing legal proceedings. We would expect the Council to restart the complaints process once the proceedings finish.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate this complaint. This is because it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision to suspend the complaints procedure.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman