Summary: The Council failed to complete the actions agreed following an earlier Ombudsman investigation within the agreed timescales. The Council will pay Miss X £150 to recognise the further injustice caused to her.

The complaint

1. We upheld a complaint against the Council in September 2022, following which the Council agreed to take action to remedy the injustice caused. The Council failed to provide evidence of compliance with the remedy actions within the agreed timescales.

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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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered the information provided by Miss X and the Council.
5. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background

6. Miss X complained the Council failed to carry out the recommendations it identified during its response to her complaint about the way the Council handled the adoption of her child. We upheld the complaint and the Council agreed to take action to remedy the injustice caused.
7. It agreed to take the following action within one month of our final decision:
• contact Miss X and apologise for the frustration, distress, raised expectations and time and trouble caused to her by the Council’s delay in completing the children’s statutory complaint procedure and some of the recommendations made as a result of that procedure; and
• contact the social worker in Council B on Miss X’s behalf and establish the ongoing arrangements for letterbox contact with her adopted child. It should ask Council B to provide Miss X with information about what she can expect the contact to include, how often she will receive it and if she will be provided with the missed seven years letterbox contact. The Council should provide this information to Miss X in an accessible written format, along with all the contact details for the relevant social worker.

What happened

8. We issued our final decision on Miss X’s complaint at the end of September 2022.
9. At the beginning of November 2022 we asked the Council for evidence it had completed the above actions.
10. In December 2022 the Council told us it had offered Miss X a meeting in the middle of November 2022, but she had declined. It said it was trying to arrange a meeting and would contact the social worker in Council B after it had met with Miss X to apologise.
11. Miss X told us she did not want to meet the Council, and that she had told the Council she would rather have a letter.
12. In January 2023 we wrote to the Council and told it Miss X did not want to meet with it and wanted an apology letter. We asked the Council to provide us with evidence it had sent a letter to Miss X apologising and setting out the ongoing arrangements for letterbox contact by 1 February 2022.
13. The Council sent us evidence it had met with Miss X via a video call on 1 February 2023. It also sent us a copy of the letter it had written to Miss X on 15 February 2023. The letter apologised to Miss X for the injustice caused by the upheld complaints in our previous decision, and for the delay in issuing the apology letter. It set out the contact it had made with Council B about the letterbox contact, and the contact details for the head of service which it had discussed the matter with, who Miss X could contact.

My findings

14. In September 2022, the Council agreed to the actions set out above to remedy the injustice caused by the faults we identified. It said it would complete these actions within one month of the date of the final decision. It did not do so. The Council is at fault for non-compliance with an agreed remedy.
15. When a council agrees to our recommendations, it should make every effort to comply within the agreed timescales. The Council did not do this in this case. This is a breach of trust, causes uncertainty and frustration for complainants and risks undermining public confidence in the Council.
16. The Council has now completed the agreed actions,15 weeks later than agreed. This delay has caused Miss X frustration and uncertainty, particularly as our previous investigation found delay in the Council’s actions. We have made a recommendation to remedy the additional injustice the Council’s non-compliance has caused to Miss X.

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Agreed action

17. The Council will, within one month of the date of this decision, pay Miss X £150 to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused to her by its failure to comply with the agreed actions following our earlier decision, and her time and trouble pursuing the matter.
18. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Final decision

19. I have completed my investigation. I found fault causing injustice and the Council agreed to my recommendation to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman