Summary: Mrs X complained the Council delayed investigating her complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. She said the delay caused her frustration and distress. The Council was at fault as failed to complete the stage two investigation within the statutory timescales. The Council has agreed to complete the stage two investigation within 65 working days, pay Mrs X £100 in recognition of the frustration and distress caused and review its procedures.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council delayed investigating her complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. She says the delay has caused frustration and distress. She wants the Council to start the stage two investigation 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 comments received 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 65 working days 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.

What happened

12. In 2021, Mrs X and her husband were foster carers for a child, Y. In November 2021, Mrs X made a complaint to the Council. This stated that despite concerns being raised by herself and other agencies, the Council was not acting to safeguard Y or supporting them as foster carers to keep Y safe.
13. The Council accepted her complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. It provided a stage one response in December 2021.
14. Mrs X was unhappy with the Council’s response. She continued to engage with the Council to try and resolve her concerns but in April 2022, she asked the Council to escalate the complaint to stage two.
15. The Council accepted her escalation request. It told her there was a 2-3 month wait to be allocated a stage two investigator, but it would be back in touch once an investigator was available.
16. In August 2022, Mrs X brought her complaint to us. She complained about the delay and said that despite accepting her stage two escalation request in April, the Council had not yet allocated an investigator or begun the stage two investigation.
17. We invited the Council to remedy the complaint by completing the stage two investigation within 65 working days and providing a financial remedy for the delay. The Council did not agree to this. It told us it was experiencing delays in its investigations processes due to several factors, including increased demand and reduced investigator availability. It said despite increasing its number of investigators earlier this year, it was likely to be October before it could allocate an investigator for Mrs X’s complaint.

Analysis

18. The timescales set out in law and statutory guidance are clear. Councils must complete the stage two investigation within 65 working days of the person making the request. The Council has not done this, and this is fault.
19. The Council told us that it was experiencing increased demand for complaints investigations and reduced availability of investigators. Although I acknowledge these comments, this does not absolve the Council of its duty to complete stage two investigations within the statutory timescales. The Council should now complete the stage two investigation without further delay.

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Agreed action

20. Within one month of the final decision, the Council will pay Mrs X £100 to acknowledge the frustration and distress caused by the delay in completing the investigation.
21. Within 65 working days of the final decision, the Council will complete its stage two investigation. It should ensure Mrs X is aware she can escalate her complaint to stage three of the procedure if she remains dissatisfied following this.
22. Within three months of the final decision, the Council will review its arrangements for completing stage two investigations to ensure it has sufficient resources in place to comply with the statutory timescales.

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Final decision

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

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman