Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about a financial remedy offered by the Council. There is nothing we could add to the Council’s response. We cannot achieve the outcome Ms X wants.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council has not offered an adequate financial remedy for the injustice caused by its mistakes when she asked for accommodation aged 16. She wants the Council to pay compensation based on the cost of the services she should have received as a looked after child.

Back to top

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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

Back to top

My assessment

5. The Council responded to Ms X’s complaint at all three stages of the children’s complaints process. This is a formal procedure, set out in law, which councils must follow to investigate certain types of complaint. It involves:
• a written response from the Council (Stage 1);
• the appointment of an independent investigator to prepare a report (Stage 2); and, if the person making the complaint requests
• an independent panel to consider their representations (Stage 3).
6. The independent investigator and complaint review panel found fault with the service provided by the Council. The Council accepted their findings and recommendations in full. The Council has paid allowances, some costs and a symbolic amount to acknowledge Ms X’s distress. The Council is now providing services to which Ms X would have been entitled had she been accommodated by the Council.
7. Ms X is unhappy with the financial remedy offered by the Council.
8. She wants the Council to pay more. She wants a payment based on the cost of services she should have received, including the value of having a social worker, personal adviser, regular looked after child review meetings and other social care support.
9. We do not calculate financial remedies in this way.
10. We recommend modest symbolic payments to acknowledge the impact of the lack of services. The Council has offered a symbolic payment based on our recommendations. There is nothing more we could achieve.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council has already offered a suitable remedy and there is nothing more we could achieve. We cannot achieve the outcome Ms X wants.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman