Summary: Ms X complained the Council failed to appropriately manage her child’s care since accommodating her child under a Section 20 agreement. We found fault with the Council failing to progress to stage 3 of the children’s statutory complaint procedure and for delays in producing the stage 2 response. The Council agreed to consider Ms X’s complaint under stage 3 of the children’s statutory complaint procedure. The Council also agreed to apologise to Ms X and pay her £150 as a symbolic gesture for the avoidable frustration and inconvenience its handling of this matter caused. The Council also agreed to review how it handles complaints under the children’s statutory complaints procedure and provide training to staff.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council failed to appropriately manage her child’s care since accommodating her child under a Section 20 agreement.
2. Ms X says the Council’s actions have impacted her mental health and caused a breakdown in the relationship with her child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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)
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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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Statutory complaints procedures

The three-stage process

8. 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.
9. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. The whole stage two process should be completed within 25 working days but guidance allows an extension for up to 65 working days where required.
13. 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 working days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 working days of the panel hearing.

What happened

14. In 2021, the Council accommodated Ms X’s child under a Section 20 agreement.
15. Ms X made a complaint to the Council in October 2023 about the way in which it managed the care for her child. Ms X asked the Council to consider her complaint through the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
16. The Council provided a stage 1 complaint response in November 2023. The Council declined to investigate Ms X’s complaint because her child was 16 and had refused for her information to be shared with Ms X.
17. Ms X brought her complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (the Ombudsman). We investigated Ms X’s complaint and found fault with the Council refusing to consider Ms X’s complaint through the statutory process. We outlined:
• Ms X’s complaint was about a Section 20 arrangement which the children’s statutory complaint procedure covers.
• The Council made a flawed decision to refuse to consider the complaint because Ms X’s child did not consent because the investigation did not rely on sharing personal information.
• The Council had applied a Scottish standard for child competency rather than the English standard test.
18. We recommended the Council completes stage 2 of the children’s statutory complaint procedure as resolution to the complaint.
19. In October 2024, the Investigating Officer and Independent Person completed their stage 2 reports. The Council issued its stage 2 complaint response following this. The stage 2 investigation:
• Partially upheld Ms X’s complaint about the poor standard of communication with her detailing that communication was inconsistent and lacked clarity.
• Partially upheld Ms X’s complaint the Council had not provided consistent, safe and appropriate care of Ms X’s child.
• Did not uphold Ms X’s complaint the Council failed to progress a reunification plan between Ms X and her child.
• Did not uphold Ms X’s complaint about the Council sharing information with her daughter that she provided.
• Upheld Ms X’s complaint that it allowed her daughter to remain in an unregulated placement for over one month.
• Upheld Ms X’s complaint over delays in providing a response to a Subject Access Request.
• Upheld Ms X’s complaint about the Council repeatedly failing to respond to emails in a timely manner.
20. Within the Council’s stage 2 response it proposed to meet with Ms X to discuss any perceived inaccuracies it holds on file. It also proposed to discuss what the Council could achieve about the issues presented in Ms X’s complaint. The Council said Ms X was “not required to proceed to a stage 3 Panel review. If you remain dissatisfied, you must now contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman instead. This approach is in accordance with guidance we have received from the Ombudsman previously”.

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. The Ombudsman would normally expect a council and complainant to follow the full complaints procedure.
22. The content of Ms X’s complaint is covered by the statutory children’s complaint procedure. The Council has only completed stage 1 and stage 2 of the complaint procedure.
23. The Council has not progressed to stage 3 of the statutory children’s complaint procedure because it said Ms X was not required to do so. The Council also said Ms X “must” contact the Ombudsman with her complaint rather than advancing to stage 3 because this was an approach approved by the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman has not provided this advice to the Council and we consider it correct for a person and council to follow the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council phrasing its response in this manner has misled Ms X into thinking she could approach the Ombudsman with her complaint at the current stage.
24. 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.
25. In the circumstances of Ms X’s complaint, the stage two investigation has not upheld all significant complaints and has not set out a clear action plan for delivery of Ms X’s desired outcomes. Directing Ms X to the Ombudsman before completing stage 3 of the statutory process was fault.
26. Because the Council has not completed stage 3 of the statutory children’s complaints procedure, I have not investigated Mrs X’s concerns about how it handled her child’s care following the Section 20 agreement or how it communicated with her about her child’s care and her concerns.
27. The Council was at fault for not considering Ms X’s complaint through the full statutory children’s complaints procedure. This caused her avoidable frustration and inconvenience. The failure of the Council to follow the statutory children’s complaints procedure is a repeat failure of the previous complaint brought to the Ombudsman in which the Council failed to progress to the stage 2. This shows a lack of learning by the Council from the previous Ombudsman investigation.
28. The statutory children’s complaints procedure allows for a maximum of 90 days to complete stage 2. The Ombudsman told the Council to complete a stage 2 investigation on 30 April 2024. The Council only completed, and communicated, is stage 2 decision on 15 November 2024. This meant it took the Council 199 days to issue the stage 2 response following the Ombudsman’s decision; this was fault. This meant the Council delayed outside the statutory timescales by 109 days adding to Ms X’s frustration and inconvenience.

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Action

29. Within 10 weeks of the Ombudsman’s final decision the Council should:
• Complete a stage 3 review at an independent panel for Ms X’s complaint in line with the children’s statutory complaints procedure and issue a final response to Ms X.
• Apologise to Ms X for the inconvenience and frustration its failure to handle her complaint in line with the statutory children’s complaints procedure caused and pay her £150 as a symbolic gesture to reflect this inconvenience and frustration.
• Review its complaint handling processes in line with the children’s statutory complaints procedure to ensure it is handling complaints in compliance with the statutory process.
• Provide training to staff about the children’s statutory complaints procedure and the importance of adhering to this process, including the relevant timescales.
30. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

31. There was fault leading to injustice. As the Council has agreed to my recommendations, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman