Summary: Mrs X complained about how the Council refused services to her disabled son, Y. The Council was at fault for refusing to consider her complaint properly under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. This caused Mrs X frustration. It will now consider her complaint at stage two of the statutory children’s complaints procedure.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about how the Council refused services to her disabled son, Y. She says the Council:

• failed to assess Y’s needs accurately; and
• failed to provide enough funding for services to meet his needs.

2. Mrs X says this has caused Y to be at risk due to lack of services. Mrs X says having to complete repeated applications has caused her ill health and depression.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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)
4. 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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. 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 have and have not investigated

6. I have not investigated Mrs X’s substantive complaint about how the Council refused services to Y. I have explained why in paragraph 26.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council, as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered these comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Section 17 duties

9. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 says councils must safeguard and promote the welfare of children who are in need.
10. A child is in need if they are disabled.

Statutory complaints procedure

11. 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.
12. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution.
13. 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 investigating officer (IO) to look into the complaint and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring its independence.
14. Following the investigation, a senior manager (the adjudicating officer) at the council should carry out an adjudication. The officer considers the IO report and any report from the IP. They decide what the council’s response to the complaint will be, including what action it will take. The adjudicating officer should then write to the complainant with a copy of the investigation report, any report from the independent person and the adjudication response.
15. 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.

Early referrals to the LGSCO

16. The Ombudsman would normally expect a council and complainant to follow the full complaints procedure. The guidance sets out the circumstances in which a complaint can be referred to the Ombudsman without completing all three stages. This can only happen when the stage two investigation is robust with all, or all significant complaints upheld. Councils must show they agree to meet most of the complainant’s desired outcomes and have a clear action plan for delivery.

What happened?

17. In July 2024, Mrs X complained to the Council that it failed to assess Y’s needs accurately and failed to provide enough funding to meet his needs.
18. The Council investigated this complaint at stage 1 of the statutory complaints procedure.
19. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s response and so asked it to escalate her complaint to stage 2 of the statutory complaints procedure.
20. The Council refused to commission a stage 2 investigation of her complaint. It said it was satisfied the stage 1 response fully addressed the issues raised in her complaint.

Analysis

21. 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, we expect councils to complete the complaints procedure.
22. If a complainant wants to progress their complaint through all three stages of the statutory procedure, then they have the right to do so – regardless of the council’s views on the merits of the complaint.
23. The Ombudsman normally expects councils (and complainants) to follow the full statutory procedure before involving us. A complaint can only be referred to the Ombudsman earlier if, following a robust stage two investigation, all significant parts of the complaint have been upheld.
24. In Mrs X’s case, the Council refused to commission a stage 2 investigation of her complaint. It said it was satisfied the stage 1 response fully addressed the issues raised in her complaint.
25. I do not agree. Mrs X’s complaint is about a matter related to s17 Children Act 1989. She has a statutory right to make a complaint, and she had the right to a stage 2 investigation if she wanted one, whatever the Council’s view on the merits of such an investigation. The Council was at fault for not considering Mrs X’s complaint at stage 2, this caused her frustration.
26. The criteria for an early referral to the Ombudsman is not met here, and the complaint should now be considered under stage 2 of the statutory procedure. Because of this, I have not investigated Mrs X’s substantive complaints about the Council’s actions.
27. If Mrs X is still unhappy after all three stages of the statutory procedure have been completed, she can come back to us and ask us to consider her complaint.

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Action

28. Within four weeks of the date of my final decision, the Council will:

• allocate an investigator to consider Mrs X’s complaint under stage 2 of the statutory children’s complaints procedure;
• apologise to Mrs X for the frustration caused to her and her family for not following the statutory complaints procedure. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making its apology; and
• make a payment of £200 to Mrs X to recognise the frustration caused to her and her family for not following the statutory complaints procedure.

29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

I find fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman