Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed considering her complaint at stage three of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. She says the delay has caused frustration and distress. The Council was at fault when it did not hold the stage three panel within the statutory timescales. The Council has agreed to hold the panel hearing within 30 working days and pay Mrs X £100 to acknowledge the frustration caused by the delay.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council has delayed considering her complaint at stage three of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. She says the delay has caused frustration and distress. She wants the Council to convene a stage three panel without further delay.

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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 an organisation’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 Mrs X’s complaint and spoke with her about it on the phone.
6. I considered information provided by the Council.
7. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on the draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

The children’s 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 first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Statutory guidance says the investigating officer and independent person who conducted the stage two investigation should be invited to the stage three panel. However, should any of these person’s availability cause a delay in holding the panel, the Chair should take a view on proceeding without them. The panel Chair should make the final decision on attendees.

Background information

13. The Council accepted Mrs X ‘s complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure in April 2021.
14. Mrs X brought a complaint to us later in 2021, saying the Council had delayed completing the stage two investigation. We found the Council at fault. The Council agreed to complete the stage two investigation and make a payment to remedy the injustice caused by the delay. The stage two investigation was completed in February 2022.

What happened

15. Mrs X was dissatisfied with the outcome of the stage two investigation and asked the Council to escalate her complaint to stage three of the procedure. The Council accepted the request at the beginning of March 2022. It asked Mrs X for her availability which she provided to the Council.
16. The Council arranged the panel for the end of April but the investigating officer was unwell. The panel chair decided to postpone the hearing rather than hold it without them being present. The officer said they would be available again from early June 2022. The Council tried to arrange a further date in late June 2022 but this was a date Mrs X had told the Council she was unavailable.
17. Mrs X was unhappy with the ongoing delay and brought the complaint to us.
18. We invited the Council to remedy the complaint by holding the stage three investigation within 30 days and providing a financial remedy for delay arranging the stage three. The Council said it had previously proved impossible to do this in the timescale and whilst they would try their hardest, they could not guarantee it would happen within 30 days.

Analysis

19. The timescales in the children’s statutory complaint procedure are clear. Councils should arrange the stage three panel within 30 days of the request being raised.
20. The Council accepted Mrs X’s stage three request at the beginning of March, so should have held the review panel by the middle of April. The Council did not arrange the stage three panel within the statutory timescale and this is fault.
21. This has caused Mrs X frustration and time and trouble having to bring the complaint back to us.
22. I accept there will be times when unforeseen circumstances such as illness may cause a delay in the process. However, the statutory guidance gives the panel Chair discretion to decide who attends and to proceed without the officers involved at stage two, if availability is causing undue delay. Although the Council says it has tried to arrange the panel, it only offered Mrs X one date in June, on a day she had already told the Council she was unavailable. I am not satisfied the Council made sufficient efforts to arrange the stage three panel and the delay has caused Mrs X additional frustration and distress.

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Agreed action

23. Within 30 working days of the final decision the Council will:
• Convene the stage three panel. It should then issue the Council’s response within 20 working days of the hearing.
• Pay Mrs X £100 in recognition of the frustration caused by the delay and time and trouble having to bring the complaint back to us.
• Remind relevant officers that stage three panels should be conducted within 30 working days of the request being made and that if officer availability is causing undue delay, the panel Chair has discretion to decide to proceed without them.

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Final decision

24. 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