Summary: We found fault with the Council’s delay in completing stage two of the children’s statutory complaint procedure for the complainant (Mrs X). This fault caused Mrs X injustice. The Council agreed to apologise, complete the stage two investigation and make a symbolic payment to recognise Mrs X’s distress. The Council also agreed to review any overdue complaints considered at stage two of the children’s statutory complaint procedure and prepare a plan of action to prevent any further delays.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the Council’s delay in completing stage two of the investigation carried out under the children’s statutory complaint procedure.

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I talked to Mrs X and reviewed all the documents sent by her.
6. I reviewed the information provided by the Council and the Council’s ‘Complaints and Representations policy’.
7. Mrs 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

Legal and administrative background

8. The guidance ‘Getting the best from complaints’ Social Care Complaints and Representations for Children, Young People and Others (Guidance) is based on the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006. Only in exceptional circumstances councils can justify a variation from this document.

The Guidance specifies:

• which complaints should be considered under children’s statutory complaints procedure;
• who can complain;
• process and timescales for considering complaints.
1. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services:
• The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond;
• 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;
• 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

Previous complaint 22007473

10. At the end of May 2022 Mrs X raised with the Council her concerns about Y’s accommodation under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989. The Council responded at the beginning of July.
11. Mrs X was not happy with the Council’s response and asked the Council to consider her complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaint procedure. The Council offered to meet Mrs X to discuss her complaint and try to resolve the issues she raised.
12. At the end of August Mrs X contacted us as no meeting had been arranged and the Council had failed to escalate her complaint.
13. At the end of November we issued a decision in which we found fault in the way the Council had dealt with Mrs X’s complaint. We asked the Council to hold a meeting but if the issues of Mrs X’s complaint were not resolved at this meeting the Council should then have started stage two of the children’s statutory complaint procedure within a month from the date of our decision.

Current complaint

14. At the beginning of December the Council told Mrs X it had commissioned an Investigating Officer (Investigating Officer 1) and an Independent Person for her complaint. The Council also specified:
• the end of November as the starting date for the investigation;
• the beginning of March 2023 as the date the investigation should end.
15. Later in December Mrs X attended a meeting with the investigating team to settle a statement of complaint for the stage two investigation.
16. Mrs X told me some of the delays were caused by the change of Investigating Officer in the spring of 2023. Mrs X said it took a long time for the new Investigating Officer (Investigating Officer 2) to get access to all the complaints documents.
17. In the third week of July Investigating Officer 2 arranged a mediation meeting to find out what outcomes, other than getting answers to her questions, Mrs X sought through her complaint. The Council identified some actions and planned another meeting for the end of August.
18. Mrs X contacted us at the beginning of August. She said she had already had two mediation meetings and had still not received the documents she had asked for. She was frustrated about the delay in completing the investigation of her complaint.
19. A few days later the Council halted the investigation to allow the mediation process.
20. In mid-August the Council told us investigating Mrs X’s complaint had been very complex. The Council lacked clarity on the outcomes sought by Mrs X.

Analysis

21. As explained in paragraph nine of this decision councils have up to 65 days for the stage two investigation under the children’s statutory complaint process. This is a maximum extension of the usual timescale for completing this stage, which is 25 days. The law allows councils to apply the extension up to 65 days for more complex complaints.
22. The Council should have completed investigating Mrs X’s complaint at stage two by the beginning of March 2023, even if it considered her complaint to be complex. The delay of over six months is fault. This fault caused Mrs X injustice as her complaint remained unresolved and Mrs X could not challenge the Council’s position further.
23. After responding to Mrs X’s complaint at stage one and following our decision for Mrs X’s previous complaint, in November 2022 the Council arranged a mediation meeting. At the end of December another meeting took place between Mrs X and the members of the investigating team. It is concerning that at the advanced stages of the stage two investigation, and long after the due date for completing the process, the Council still lacked clarity on the outcomes sought by Mrs X and continued to arrange extra meetings. This caused Mrs X frustration and cannot be seen as good practice.

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Agreed action

24. To remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified, we recommend the Council within four weeks of my final decision complete the following:
• send a written apology to Mrs X. The apology should follow the principles for effective apologies set up in our revised Guidance on remedies;
• pay Mrs X £300 for the injustice caused by the delay in considering her complaint.

The Council will provide us with evidence the above has happened.

25. We also recommend the Council within six weeks of my final decision complete stage two of the children’s statutory complaint procedure for Mrs X’s complaint and send her an Investigating Officer’s report, an Independent Person’s report and the Council’s Adjudication letter.
26. We also recommend the Council within six months of my final decision review all the complaints considered at stage two of the children’s statutory complaint procedure for more than 13 weeks and:
• Identify reasons for the delays in completing the stage two investigation;
• Prepare a plan of action with the timescales to ensure the stage two investigations are completed without any further delay.

The Council will provide us with evidence of completing this actions.

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Final decision

27. I uphold Mrs X’s complaint. I found fault with the Council’s delays in completing the stage two investigation of Mrs X’s complaint. This fault caused Mrs X injustice. The Council has accepted my recommendations, so this investigation is at an end.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman