Summary: In January 2023 we upheld Mx X’s complaint that the Council failed to reply to their complaint under the statutory children's complaints procedure. The Council agreed to our recommendation to complete the stage two investigation by February 2023 and pay Mx X £100 in recognition of the injustice they experienced. The Council was at fault for delay in completing these recommendations. This caused Mx X avoidable frustration and uncertainty. The Council will apologise for the additional delay and pay Mx X a further £150.

The complaint

1. In January 2023 we upheld Mx X’s complaint that the Council failed to reply to their complaint under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council agreed actions to remedy the injustice Mx X experienced. We opened this complaint to investigate the Council's apparent failure to carry those actions out.

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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 have considered:
• our previous decision;
• the Council’s comments about the complaint; and
• the relevant law and guidance and the Ombudsman's guidance on remedies.
5. Mx X and the organisation 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

Relevant law and guidance

6. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. We call this the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The accompanying statutory guidance, ‘Getting the Best from Complaints’, explains councils’ responsibilities in more detail.
7. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
8. 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.
9. 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

10. Mx X brought a complaint to us in 2022. Part of the complaint was that the Council failed to properly consider their complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
11. We upheld Mx X’s complaint in early January 2023. We found the Council replied to Mx X’s complaint at stage one in March 2022. Mx X was not satisfied by the Council's response and requested a stage two investigation. The Council had not completed that investigation.
12. We recommended the Council pay Mx X £100 for the injustice caused by the delay. We also recommended the Council complete the stage two investigation within one month of the decision (early February 2023).
13. We asked the Council for evidence it had complied with our recommendations but did not receive a response. As a result, we opened a new investigation in mid-March 2023.
14. The Council issued the stage two response on 21 April 2023. It told me it had recently contacted Mx X to arrange the £100 payment, but Mx X had not sent it their bank account details.
15. The Council explained its customer care team is under pressure due to increased demand, which was making it hard to respond to complaints in time. It said it is making changes to its customer care and complaints handling to improve this. It also said it is working with local service areas to improve how they deal with issues at the source, so they do not escalate to complaints with the customer care team.

Findings

16. When a council agrees to our recommendations, it should make every effort to comply within the agreed timescale. Failure to do so causes a breach of trust, uncertainty and frustration for the complainant and risks undermining public confidence in the council. The Council delayed both in issuing the stage two response and in contacting Mx X to arrange the remedy payment. This failure to comply with our recommendations in time was fault.
17. The fault caused uncertainty and frustration for Mx X and meant their substantive concerns remain unanswered. I have made a recommendation for an apology and further payment to remedy the additional injustice the Council’s non‑compliance caused Mx X. I note Mx X has not yet sent the Council their bank details to allow it to make the £100 remedy payment. It is up to Mx X whether to accept the money recommended in our previous investigation and in paragraph 19 of this decision statement.
18. The Council has confirmed it is carrying out substantive work to improve its complaints handling. I am satisfied this will result in improvements in the Council's practice so have not made a recommendation to prevent the fault occurring again.

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Agreed action

19. Within one month of the date of my final decision, the Council will:
• apologise to Mx X for injustice they experienced as a result of its failure to carry out the recommendations from their previous complaint in the agreed timescale;
• pay Mx X £150 in recognition of their injustice.
20. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

21. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault leading to personal injustice. I have recommended action to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman