Summary: We find fault with the way the Council handled Mr B’s request to progress his complaint to stage two of the children’s services statutory complaints process. This means Mr B was denied an independent investigation. The Council agrees actions to remedy the injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr B complains about the Councils actions when his children were subject of a child in need assessment and plan.
2. He complains the Council:
• Included inaccurate information in the assessment report.
• Failed to invite him to the child in need meeting.
• Gave him the wrong child in need plan.
• Said a document had been agreed and signed by Mr B when it had not.
• Cancelled a meeting with very little notice.
• Failed to communicate with him through the process.

Back to top

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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. If we are satisfied with a council’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 the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

6. I considered the information from Mr B and the Council along with the relevant law and guidance.
7. Mr B and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I carefully considered all the comments I received.

Back to top

What I found

Law and guidance

Statutory complaints procedure

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.
9. The handling and consideration of complaints consists of three stages:
• stage 1 - local resolution
• stage 2 – investigation
• stage 3 - review panel

(Department for Education, Statutory guidance for local authority children’s services on representations and complaints procedures, 2006)

10. The guidance says who can complain and what they can complain about. This includes disputed decisions, concerns about the appropriateness of a service, and the application of eligibility criteria.
11. If a complainant is not happy with a council’s stage one response, they can ask that it is considered at stage two. The guidance says once a council has accepted a complaint at stage one, it must ensure the complaint continues to stage two and three if that is the complainant’s wish.
12. At stage two of the procedure, councils appoint an investigating officer (IO) and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation. 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.
13. 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 complaints upheld. Councils must show they agree to meet most of the complainant’s desired outcomes and have a clear action plan for delivery.
14. In the Ombudsman focus report ‘Are we getting the best from children’s social care complaints?’ (2015) we found a common problem was councils refusing to allow complaints to go through all stages of the statutory complaint’s procedure.

The Council’s complaint information

15. The Council says it will carry out a detailed assessment of the complaint that has made to make sure it is eligible for the statutory complaint process. It says if it is not able to address the complaint under this process it will inform the complainant and provide further advice.

What happened

16. In 2019 there were concerns about Mr B’s children. Children’s services carried out assessments and decided the children needed to have a child in need plan.
17. Mr B was unhappy about the way children’s services carried out the assessments and says some of the information was inaccurate. He also says the Council did not communicate with him properly and failed to invite him to the child in need meeting.
18. He complained to the Council in October 2019. The Council responded at stage one of the statutory complaint process in December.
19. Mr B was not happy with the Council’s response. He asked for his complaint to progress to stage two of the statutory complaint process.
20. The Council met Mr B in February 2020 and summarised the meeting and findings in a letter. It upheld some of Mr B’s complaint and offered him a financial payment.
21. Mr B remained unhappy with the Council’s response and complained to the Ombudsman.
22. In response to our enquiries the Council said:

“….following the completion of the stage one statutory complaint, Mr B requested further consideration be given to his complaint and as such a meeting was convened between Mr B – who was accompanied by his support worker, the Head of Service for Safeguarding and myself. A letter was sent to Mr B following this meeting. A further email trail took place in respect of reimbursing Mr B for the loss of earnings which had been identified”.

My findings

23. The guidance explains when the Council should commence a stage two investigation and what the process is:
• Stage two commences either when the complainant requests it or where the complainant and the Council have agreed that stage one is not appropriate.
• The Complaints Manager should arrange for a full and considered investigation of the complaint to take place without delay. They may also request (in writing) any person or body to produce information or documents to facilitate investigation, and consideration should be given to matters of disclosure and confidentiality.
• Consideration of the complaint at stage two should be fair, thorough and transparent with clear and logical outcomes.
24. The Council correctly identified Mr B’s complaint should be handled as a statutory complaint. It began the process and provided a stage one response.
25. The issue began at stage two. The Council failed to progress to stage two of the statutory process. This is fault.
26. By failing to consider Mr B’s complaint at stage two the Council denied Mr B an independent investigation into his complaint and caused him additional time and trouble pursuing his complaint with the Ombudsman

Agreed action

27. Within one month of my final decision the Council agrees to:
• Pay Mr B £100 for his time and trouble pursuing his complaint.
• Appoint an Investigating Officer and Independent Person to investigate Mr B’s complaint at stage two of the statutory complaint procedure.
28. Within two months of my decision the Council agrees to remind staff dealing with statutory complaints of:
• The process of escalating a complaint through the statutory procedure, and the limited circumstances in which the Council is not required to investigate a complaint, or can refer a complaint early to the Ombudsman.

Back to top

Final decision

29. I find fault with the Council causing injustice. The Council agrees actions to remedy the injustice.

Back to top

Parts of the complaint that I did not investigate

30. I did not investigate the substantive issues listed in paragraphs 1 and 2. Once Mr B’s complaint has completed the statutory complaints procedure, he can ask the us to consider the substantive complaint if he remains dissatisfied.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman