Summary: Ms X complained the Council has refused to investigate her complaint at stage 2 of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council was at fault. It will now begin a stage 2 investigation and pay her £150 in recognition of the delay caused by its refusal and the distress this caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained the Council has refused to investigate her complaint at stage 2 of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. She says this has caused her frustration and distress, as she is dissatisfied with the stage 1 response and her complaint remains unresolved. She wants the Council to begin a stage 2 investigation into her complaint and allow her to progress it to stage 3 if she requests this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
3. 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)
4. 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.

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read Ms X’s complaint and spoke with her about it on the phone.
6. I considered the relevant law, the children’s complaints procedure statutory guidance - Children's social care: getting the best from complaints, and our Guidance for practitioners on the children’s statutory complaints process .

7. Ms X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on the draft decision. I considered comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

The Children’s statutory complaints procedure

8. There is a formal procedure, set out in law, which councils must follow to investigate certain complaints about children’s services. The procedure aims to ensure concerns are resolved swiftly and, wherever possible, by the people who provide the service locally.
9. Statutory guidance (the Guidance) provides details of what may form the subject of a complaint under this procedure. This includes all local authority functions within Part 3 of the Children’s Act 1989, which sets out the services councils must provide for children and their families in their area. The Guidance says a complaint may arise because of many things such as:
• an unwelcome or disputed decision;
• concerns about the appropriateness or quality of a service;
• the impact on a child or young person of the application of a local authority policy; or
• delivery or non-delivery of services including complaints procedures.
10. The children’s statutory complaints procedure involves three stages:
• Stage 1 - Local resolution by the council.
• Stage 2 – an investigation by an investigating officer not involved in the service who will prepare a detailed report and findings. The investigation is overseen by an independent person to ensure its impartiality. The council then issues an adjudication letter which sets out its response to the findings.
• Stage 3 – an independent panel to consider their outstanding issues.
11. Section 3.1.5 of the guidance says:

“Where a complaint is accepted at Stage 1, the complainant is entitled to pursue their complaint further through the procedure, except in the case of cross boundary issues. In all other instances, once a complaint has entered Stage 1, the local authority is obliged to ensure that the complaint proceeds to stage 2 and 3 of this procedure, if that is the complainant’s wish.”

What happened

12. Ms X’s child, Y, has a developmental condition and receives support from the Council’s children’s service. In May 2021, Ms X complained to the Council. She complained the Council:
• had withdrawn a support service for her child and taken too long to replace it;
• did not replace Y’s social worker, after they went off sick, leaving Y without an allocated worker;
• had not communicated effectively with her;
• had not provided her with a copy of an amended assessment report.
13. The Council accepted her complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure and started a stage 1 investigation. The investigation upheld the first three parts of her complaint and said it was currently updating Y’s assessment and would provide her with a copy of this report in due course.
14. Ms X was unhappy with the Council’s response and requested escalation to stage 2. In July 2021, the Council refused this request. It told Ms X a stage 2 investigation would not change the outcome, would be difficult to conduct as key staff had left the Council’s employment and would not be a good use of public money.
15. It offered her a goodwill payment of £150 for the time and trouble spent pursuing her complaint and directed her to us if she remained unhappy.
16. Ms X remained unhappy and brought her complaint to us. We considered the case and decided to invite the Council to start a stage 2 investigation, as its refusal to do this was likely to be fault. The Council did not agree to this.
17. Ms X told us she did not feel the Council had taken her complaint seriously and she had still not received a copy of the amended report. She said she was concerned the Council had not learnt lessons from her complaint and did not want others to experience the same poor service that she had. She confirmed she wanted the Council to start a stage 2 independent investigation into her concerns.
18. We have now investigated this complaint and I have set out my findings below.

Analysis

19. I have considered the law and statutory guidance and find that the Council should investigate Ms X’s complaint at stage 2 of the statutory procedure. This is because:
• Ms X’s complaint related to services provided to her child, Y. The Council appropriately accepted her complaint at stage 1 of the statutory procedure and so the relevant law and statutory guidance applies to this case.
• The statutory guidance is clear that councils must ensure the complaint proceeds to stage 2 and stage 3 of the procedure, if this is the complainant’s wish.
20. Our guidance for practitioners also makes this clear to councils. It says:

“The decision about progressing to stage 2 lies with the complainant, not the council. Neither the regulations nor the guidance allow a council to refuse a stage 2 complaint because the stage 1 was upheld, or because the council thinks there is no substance to the complaint.”

21. The Council’s refusal to investigate Ms X’s complaint at stage 2 investigation was fault. This has led to avoidable delay in resolving Ms X’s complaint and caused Ms X distress. Ms X has also spent additional, avoidable time and trouble pursuing her complaint. I have recommended how the Council can remedy the injustice caused below.

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Agreed action

22. Within one month of the final decision, the Council has agreed to:
• begin an investigation into Ms X’s complaint under Stage 2 of the children’s statutory complaints procedure and complete this in line with the statutory timescales. If Ms X remains dissatisfied after the Stage 2 investigation and wants to escalate her complaint, it should progress the complaint to Stage 3.
• pay Ms X £150 as an acknowledgement of the delay and distress caused by the Council’s actions and the time and trouble Ms X has taken to escalate her complaint.

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Final decision

23. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault and the Council has agreed actions to remedy the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman