Summary: Miss X complained the Council took too long to offer her child, Y, suitable respite care. The Council was at fault for not considering Miss X’s complaint through the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to apologise and investigate the complaint at stage two of the statutory procedure.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council took too long to offer her child, Y, suitable respite care. She says the delay impacted her mental health and she has no time to care for her other child. She wants the Council to agree Y’s respite and address the issues that caused the delay.

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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 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)
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 have discussed the complaint with Miss X and considered the information she provided. I have also considered information provided by the Council.
6. Miss X and the Council have had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Children in Need

7. 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.

8. 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 statutory children’s complaints procedure

9. 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.
10. The law sets out what issues must be considered using the statutory complaints procedure. This includes how the councils meet the duties set out in Part 3 of the Children Act 1989. Sections 20 and 22 of the Children Act 1989 come under Part 3.

What happened

11. Miss X’s child, Y, is disabled with complex learning difficulties. Y is a child in need. In January 2024 Miss X complained to the Council about its failure to arrange suitable respite for Y. This included overnight respite for Y while Miss X was admitted to hospital for a planned operation later in the year.
12. The Council considered the complaint under its corporate complaint procedure. It apologised for a delay in arranging Y’s respite and said it was still searching for suitable provision. Over the next few months, the Council held child in need meetings to try and resolve the situation.
13. Miss X complained to the Ombudsman in June 2024. Since then, she says she identified suitable respite for Y during her operation and the Council agreed to fund 24 nights of respite care throughout the year. Miss X says the Council has still not resolved the issues that led to the delay in finding respite for Y and she is concerned she will be in the same situation again in the future.

My findings

14. Councils should use the children’s statutory complaints procedure for complaints about actions they take to meet their duties under Part 3 of the Children Act 1989. This includes section 17 of the Children Act; the Council’s duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.
15. The Council’s failure to respond to Miss X’s complaint using the children’s statutory complaints procedure was fault. The statutory procedure provides an important, independent, route of redress for vulnerable children, young people and those acting on their behalf. The fault meant Miss X had to go through the wrong complaints procedure and complain to the Ombudsman unnecessarily.

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Agreed action

16. Within one month of the date of the final decision, the Council has agreed to:
1. Apologise to Miss X for the time and trouble she went to pursuing her complaint through its corporate complaints procedure unnecessarily. 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.
2. Begin a stage two investigation, under the statutory children’s complaints procedure, into Miss X’s complaint. This investigation should take no longer than 65 working days from the date of my final decision.
17. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

18. I have completed my investigation, finding fault causing injustice, which the Council has agreed to remedy.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman