Summary: Miss X complained about the way the Council dealt with support for children in her care. The Council was at fault delaying the completion of the stage two investigation of the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council will apologise for this.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains that the Council failed to provide sufficient support for children in her care. Miss X also says that the Council failed to follow court orders, communicated poorly with her and ignored her complaints. Miss X also complains that the Council failed to tell her when social workers were leaving.
2. Miss X says that the family have suffered separation due to the failures of the Council. She also says the Council’s actions have caused a decline in her mental health and she has been unable to work due to the stress which has also caused financial issues.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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)
5. 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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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have investigated Miss X’s concerns about the Council’s responses to her complaint.
7. I have not investigated Miss X’s substantive complaints about the way the Council supported the children in her care, followed court orders or communicated with her. This is because she has not yet completed the statutory children’s social care complaints procedure, and her complaint is not, at this stage, eligible for early referral to the Ombudsman.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I have considered the information Miss X provided. I also considered the information given by the Council in response to enquiries.
9. Miss X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my final decision. I considered these comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

Statutory complaints procedure

10. 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. We also published practitioner guidance on the procedures, setting out our expectations.
11. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution.
12. 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 investigating officer (IO) to look into the complaint and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring its independence.
13. Following the investigation, a senior manager (the adjudicating officer) at the council should carry out an adjudication. The officer considers the IO report and any report from the IP. They decide what the council’s response to the complaint will be, including what action it will take. The adjudicating officer should then write to the complainant with a copy of the investigation report, any report from the independent person and the adjudication response.
14. The whole stage two process should be completed within 25 working days but guidance allows an extension for up to 65 working days where required.
15. 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 working days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 working days of the panel hearing.

What happened

16. Miss X complained to the Council in March 2023 about issues relating to children that were in her care.
17. The Council issued a stage one response to Miss X’s complaint in November 2023 and Miss X asked the Council to step up her complaint to stage two. The Council arranged mediation meetings with Miss X to discuss the issues but accepts there was some drift dealing with the matter which has caused a delay.
18. Miss X complained to the Ombudsman in November.
19. In May 2024, the Ombudsman recommended the Council:

• completed an investigation at stage two;
• apologised to Miss X for the delay in following the statutory complaints procedure; and
• paid Miss X £200 to recognise the time and trouble she had been to when chasing her complaint.

20. Following this, the Council agreed to step up Miss X’s complaint to stage two and agreed with the other recommendations.
21. The Council should have completed the stage two investigation by early August.
22. As the Ombudsman did not receive notice from the Council that it had completed the stage two investigation within the required timeframes, the Ombudsman contacted the Council again.
23. The Council confirmed in September that the stage two report had been completed and it was with an assistant director who was preparing the adjudication response to accompany the stage two report. The Council sent this to Miss X at the end of September.

Analysis

24. Miss X raised a complaint about the Council’s children’s social care team.
25. Following recommendations from the Ombudsman, the Council agreed to complete an investigation at stage two of the statutory children’s social care complaints procedure. The Council should have issued the stage two response by early August 2024, however it took until the end of September 2024 to send this to Miss X. This delay is fault which has caused Miss X further distress and frustration.
26. I will make a recommendation to remedy the injustice caused to Miss X.
27. If Miss X is still unhappy after all three stages of the statutory procedure have been completed, she can come back to us and ask us to consider her complaint.

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Agreed action

28. Within four weeks of the date of my final decision, the Council will:

• apologise to Miss X for the distress and frustration caused by the delay in issuing the stage two adjudication letter.

29. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above action.

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Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation with a finding of fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman