Summary: Mrs X complained the Council’s child in need reports contained wrong or inaccurate information and did not appropriately consider the medical evidence she provided. Mrs X also complained the Council did not arrange a transition plan for her son to its adult social care team. Mrs X says the Council’s actions meant she and her son did not receive the support they should have. We found fault regarding how the Council investigated the complaint about the child in need reports, but no fault in its consideration of a transition plan. The Council has agreed to provide a remedy to address the injustice identified.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council’s child in need reports contained wrong or inaccurate information and did not appropriately consider the medical evidence she provided. Mrs X also complained the Council did not arrange a transition plan for her son to its adult social care team. She says the Council’s actions meant she and her son did not receive the support they should have. Mrs X would like the Council to provide a financial remedy and for it to follow its procedures correctly.
2. Mrs X also complained about the actions taken by her son’s school and about the Council’s adult social care service.

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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. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)
6. We cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5, paragraph 5(2), as amended)
7. 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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What I have and have not investigated

8. I have investigated the complaints referred to in paragraph one for the period May 2022 (12 months before Mrs X made her complaint to the Council) to August 2023 (when the Council provided its complaint response). I have not investigated the period before May 2022 because this part of the complaint is late. I have not investigated the period after August 2023 because this period did not form part of Mrs X’s initial complaint to the Council.
9. I have not investigated the complaints referred to in paragraph two. This is because Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s adult social care team did not form part of her initial complaint to the Council, and because we cannot investigate most complaints about what happens in schools.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I discussed the complaint with Mrs X and considered the information she provided.
11. I made enquiries to the Council and considered the information it provided.
12. Mrs X and the Council have had the opportunity to comment on a draft of this decision. I have considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Child in Need

13. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 says councils must safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need. A child is in need if:

• they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development unless the council provides support;
• their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired unless the council provides support; or
• they are disabled.

14. When a council assesses a child as being in need, it supports them through a child in need plan. This should set clear, measurable outcomes for the child and expectations for their parent. Councils should review child in need plans regularly.

The children’s statutory complaints process

15. 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.
16. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.

The Council’s Young People with Disabilities Team

20. The Council’s Young People with Disabilities (YPWD) Team provides support to parents and young people. This may include helping parents to find support within their local community and helping young people with the transition into adulthood.
21. The Council’s website says young people may be eligible for support from its YPWD Team if they are aged between 15 and 25 years with special educational needs and disabilities and if they have a referral. Service users can access a referral following a child and family assessment or following an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.

Background

22. Mrs X says her son, Y, was unable to attend school since 2021 due to ill health.
23. In April 2022, the Council carried out a child and family assessment. Following the assessment, the Council decided to close the case as it identified no role at that time for its social care team.

What happened

24. This chronology includes key events in this case and does not cover everything that happened.
25. In May 2022, the Council told Mrs X of its decision to close the case following the child and family assessment.
26. In September 2022, the Council carried out another child and family assessment. The assessment acknowledged Y’s health issues which were identified at the time and said there were ongoing concerns regarding his neurological condition. The assessment recorded that Mrs X had requested further tests be carried out regarding Y’s ongoing health issues. The assessment also identified three main needs regarding Y’s health, education and social needs. It recommended the Council support Y with a child in need (CIN) plan.
27. In October 2022, the Council carried out an initial CIN meeting. It created a CIN plan which agreed to provide support to Y to help him access education and the community. The Council said the plan would end when Y was able to access his education and had a definitive diagnosis.
28. Following the initial CIN meeting, the Council continued to visit Mrs X and Y at home. The Council also held regular CIN review meetings. As part of the CIN plan to help with Y’s education, the Council said it was focussing on trying to get Y through his GCSEs in Summer 2023. Mrs X says she considers the social workers involved at that time did not understand the difficulties the family were facing.
29. At the CIN review meeting in May 2023, the Council recorded that Y had not received an updated diagnosis. It said this significantly impacted Y’s ability to access services. The Council expressed concern that following the support provided for Y’s GCSE exams, it was unclear as to what role it could provide, given Y’s lack of diagnosis and his age. The Council said Y was due to transition to the Young People with Disabilities (YPWD) Team as he turned 16 but said he would not meet the criteria for support without a diagnosis.
30. Y started to sit his GCSE exams in May 2023.

Mrs X’s complaint

31. Mrs X raised several complaints about Y’s school in May 2023 and said every report contained fake data.
32. Shortly after, Mrs X complained the Council had not corrected its reports and had not provided the new versions to her. Mrs X said this should be done urgently as the Council had not prepared a plan for transition to its adult disability services. Mrs X also said Y’s social worker had deflected from unfinished social care reports and interventions by saying Y’s inability to complete some of his exams was due to his medical issues. Mrs X complained the social worker had ignored her and had threatened to close Y’s case.
33. Y finished his GCSE exams in June 2023.
34. At the CIN review meeting in June 2023, Mrs X said she remained worried about the lack of professional support around Y. She said she considered Y needed a multidisciplinary team to remain involved due to the ongoing health investigations. The Council said that Y did not yet have a diagnosis and therefore he would not be eligible for support from the YPWD Team. It said the actions agreed as part of the CIN assessment were complete and there was no further role for social care.
35. The Council provided its complaint response in July 2023. It acknowledged Mrs X’s complaint that she considered its reports were inaccurate. The Council said it had completed and shared the CIN reports with Mrs X and said Mrs X initially confirmed she was happy with them. The Council said Mrs X had raised concerns about inaccuracies at a later date. It said the reports were based on information shared by the professionals involved and said the information needed to be included. The Council said it had explained that without an Education, Health and Care plan or a diagnosis in place, Y did not meet the criteria for ongoing support from the YPWD Team.
36. Mrs X says she did not initially confirm she was happy with the CIN reports as indicated in the complaint response.
37. In July 2023, the Council informed Mrs X it had closed its case and would take no further action.
38. Mrs X submitted a further complaint in August 2023. She complained that the social workers had lied in Y’s education reports and said the Council had ignored Y’s medical conditions from 2021. Mrs X complained the Council had closed its case early and had failed to provide support.
39. The Council replied shortly after and referred to its previous complaint response regarding Mrs X’s complaint about the CIN plan and social care reports.
40. Mrs X remained dissatisfied with the Council’s response and brought her complaint to the Ombudsman.

Analysis – Mrs X’s complaint about the child in need reports

41. As previously stated, the law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. We published guidance for practitioners in March 2021 about how councils should apply the regulations and statutory guidance. The guidance sets out the services which can be considered under the statutory children’s complaints procedure; this includes complaints about children in need.
42. The statutory procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare, access to an independent and thorough response to their concerns. Because of this, we expect people to complete the statutory complaints procedure before we will consider whether there were any flaws in how the Council investigated their concerns.
43. The Ombudsman would normally expect a council and complainant to follow the full complaints procedure. The guidance sets out the circumstances in which a complaint can be referred to the Ombudsman without completing all three stages. This can only happen when the stage two investigation is robust with all, or all significant complaints upheld. Councils must show they agree to meet most of the complainant’s desired outcomes and have a clear action plan for delivery.
44. The Council’s complaint response to Mrs X was not robust; its initial response said Mrs X was happy with the CIN reports at the time, but then raised concerns about inaccuracies later. However, the Council’s response does not explain how it reached this decision, and it is noted that Mrs X disagrees with this explanation. Mrs X said the social workers had lied and said the Council had ignored medical evidence provided to it. The Council did not fully address this in its further complaint response but instead referred Mrs X to its previous response.
45. In its response to our enquiries, the Council acknowledged it should have investigated the complaint about its CIN reports via the statutory procedure. It says it has subsequently provided training around how to identify complaints that fall under this process. It is positive the Council has acknowledged this and taken this action.
46. However, the Council’s failure to investigate Mrs X’s complaint via the statutory children’s complaints procedure is fault.
47. As the Council did not investigate Mrs X’s complaint via the correct procedure, and because its complaint response was not robust and did not uphold the complaint, I have not investigated further about whether the CIN reports contained wrong or inaccurate information, or how the Council considered the medical evidence provided to it. I have instead made recommendations in the following section of this decision statement to address this matter.

Mrs X’s complaint about a transition plan

48. Mrs X’s complaint that the Council did not arrange a transition plan for her son to its adult social care team does not fall under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. I have therefore investigated this aspect of the complaint.
49. When a child reaches 18 years of age, they are legally an adult and responsibility for meeting their needs moves from the council’s children’s services to its adult services.
50. At the time of Mrs X’s complaint, Y was aged 16 years of age. The Council’s records show it considered Y was due to transition to the YPWD Team due to his age. However, the Council told Mrs X that Y did not meet the criteria for support from the YPWD Team without a diagnosis.
51. I acknowledge Mrs X said she provided medical evidence regarding Y’s health conditions. However, I have seen no evidence to indicate the Council received evidence of special educational needs and disabilities regarding Y. In addition, at the time of Mrs X’s complaint, Y did not have an Education, Health and Care plan.
52. As a result, I have seen no evidence to indicate the Council acted outside of its policy when it made its decision that Y did not meet the criteria for support from the YPWD Team. As a result, the Council is not at fault regarding this aspect of the complaint.
53. Having identified fault as a result of the Council’s failure to investigate Mrs X’s complaint regarding the CIN reports via the children’s statutory complaints procedure, I must consider if this caused an injustice to Mrs X. The injustice caused by the fault identified is avoidable frustration and time and trouble taken by Mrs X in bringing her complaint to us.

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Agreed action

54. To address the injustice identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within one month of the final decision:
1. Provide an apology to Mrs X for the fault identified. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings;
2. Make a symbolic payment of £150 in recognition of the avoidable frustration and time and trouble;
3. Remind staff of the importance of considering complaints about children’s social care services via the correct process, and
4. Reconsider Mrs X’s complaint about the CIN reports via the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
55. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

56. I have found fault by the Council and the Council has agreed a remedy to address the injustice identified. I have therefore concluded my investigation.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman