Summary: We uphold Mrs X’s complaint, as the Council delayed considering a complaint at stage two and stage three of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to complete its stage three without further delay and make a payment for the delay so far.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I will call Mrs X, complained to the Council in September 2020 about issues relating to a child in need assessment, carers assessment, direct payments and connected issues.

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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. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share the final decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. Mrs X had an opportunity to comment on a draft version of this decision.

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My assessment

The statutory complaints’ procedure

7. 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.
8. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
9. 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 investigator and an independent person who is responsible for overseeing the investigation. Councils have up to 13 weeks to complete stage two of the process from the date of request.
10. 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 days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 days of the panel hearing.

What happened

11. Mrs X complained to the Council in September 2020 about issues relating to a child in need assessment, carer’s assessment, direct payments and connected issues. The Council first replied to the complaint in February 2021, 16 weeks late. Mrs X requested a stage two escalation in writing in early March 2021. The Council completed its stage two towards the end of August 2021, 10 weeks late. Mrs X requested a stage three review panel a month later. This has still not happened and has not been arranged. It is ten weeks overdue.
12. An investigation is likely to conclude the Council’s failure to comply with the statutory complaints’ scheme is fault which has caused Mrs X some time and trouble

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Agreed action

13. The Council has agreed within 65 workings days of the date of my final decision to:
• Convene a stage three review panel and comply with the timescales which follow it.
• Pay Mrs X £200 to reflect the time and trouble she has gone to pursuing the complaint so far caused by the delays.

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Final decision

14. I uphold this complaint with a finding of fault causing an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman