Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about children services’ actions. The Council investigated it through its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure and we are unlikely to reach a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mrs X says the Council failed to properly support a reunification plan with her child, B.

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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:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome; or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X which included the Council’s replies to her.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. The Council looked after B after a Court granted a full Care Order. In 2023 the Council and Mrs X began a reunification process. This gradually increased the time B stayed with Mrs X. B moved full time to Mrs X in early 2025 but this broke down within a month. Mrs X says the Council did not provide good enough support which she says caused the break down. She complained to the Council.
6. The Council considered and replied to Mrs X’s complaint within its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure.
7. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about specific children’s social care services.
1. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
2. At stage two 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. A senior manager (the adjudicating officer) then 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 stage two process should be completed within 25 working days but guidance allows an extension for up to 65 working days where required.
3. 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.
8. 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, if a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it.
9. The Council at stage two and three did not uphold Mrs X’s complaint. It accepted one element of the support had not been provided. But concluded it was not a keystone of the plan and was not possible to say this probably caused the reunification to breakdown.

Analysis

10. There are no reasons we should re investigate the Council’s complaint investigation. Our investigation would be unlikely to come to a different conclusion.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because our investigation is unlikely to reach a difference conclusion than the Council’s.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman