Summary: Mrs X complained about services provided to her son, Y, by the Council’s children’s services department. We found fault because the Council failed to consider the complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. This caused Mrs X avoidable distress and frustration. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to consider Mrs X’s concerns through the statutory procedure and apologise for failing to do this originally. It has also agreed to make a payment to her and issue guidance to staff.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains about the services provided to her son, Y, by the Council’s children’s services department. She says the Council did not listen to her concerns properly and refused to escalate her complaint when she asked for this.
2. She says this caused distress and frustration and put pressure on the family at a particularly stressful time.

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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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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered all the information Mrs X provided and discussed this complaint with her. I have also considered information provided by the Council.
7. Mrs X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I have taken any comments received into consideration before reaching my final decision.

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What I found

The statutory children’s complaints procedure

8. The law sets out a three-stage statutory procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. The procedure was set up to give children and those representing them an opportunity for a thorough independent investigation of their concerns.
9. The statutory procedure has three stages:
• stage 1 is a local resolution by the council;
• stage 2 is an investigation by an investigating officer (IO) who will prepare a detailed report and findings. The investigation is overseen by an independent person (IP) to ensure its impartiality. The council then issues an adjudication letter which sets out its response to the findings; and
• stage 3 is a review panel with an independent chair to consider any outstanding issues.
10. The law sets out what issues must be considered using the statutory complaints procedure.

What happened

11. I have set out below a summary of the key events. This is not meant to show everything that happened.
12. Mrs X believed the needs of her son had temporarily increased after hospital treatment in the summer of 2024. When the Council did not agree to this increase in his care package, Mrs X made a formal complaint about this and the conduct of the officers involved.
13. The Council registered this on 18 July 2024 and said her complaint would be considered under stage one of its complaint procedure.
14. The Council emailed Mrs X on 31 July 2024. It said the complaint was currently being handled under stage one of its corporate complaints procedure but that the response would be delayed.
15. The Council sent its stage one response on 5 August 2024. It explained the reasons for its decisions on Y’s case and addressed various points. However, the complaint was considered using the Council’s corporate process and not the statutory children’s procedure.
16. The response explained she could escalate her complaint to stage two of its corporate process where a senior manager would review her complaint and respond within 20 working days. The Council said Mrs X would need to explain why she was unhappy, provide any new evidence and tell it what she wanted to happen, within 20 working days of the stage one response.
17. Mrs X wrote to formally escalate her complaint on 14 August 2024.
18. The Council responded on 22 August 2024 and advised her escalation request had not identified any issues in how the complaint was investigated at stage one. The Council said it would not progress her complaint for a stage two review and signposted her to the Ombudsman.

Analysis

19. 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.
20. In the circumstances of this complaint, I am satisfied the Council’s failure to respond to Mrs X’s complaint using the children’s statutory complaints procedure was fault. It should not have used its corporate process.
21. As a parent, she met the criteria of someone “who may complain” as per the statutory guidance: Getting the Best from Complaints.
22. In my view, the content of Mrs X’s complaint also meets the criteria of “what may be complained about” because she raises concerns about:
• an unwelcome or disputed decision;
• quantity, frequency, change or cost of a service; and
• attitude or behaviour of staff.
23. The statutory procedure provides an important, independent route of redress for vulnerable children, young people and those acting on their behalf. The fault meant Mrs X had to go part way through the wrong complaints procedure and complain to the Ombudsman unnecessarily. This would have caused frustration and distress. I have made a recommendation below to remedy the injustice caused.

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Agreed action

24. Within one month of the date of my final decision, the Council has agreed to take the following action:
• apologise to Mrs X for the injustice caused by pursuing her complaint through the corporate complaints procedure needlessly;
• make a symbolic payment to Mrs X of £250 to reflect the avoidable distress caused and the time and trouble in making her complaints;
• remind relevant staff of the statutory guidance ‘Getting the Best from Complaints’ particularly around ‘who may complain’ and ‘what may be complained about’. The Council should also draw attention to the Ombudsman’s good practice guidance on the children’s statutory complaints process. The Council should remind staff via training, or a briefing paper, a copy of which can be shared with the Ombudsman.
25. The Council has agreed to commission a stage two investigation into Mrs X’s complaint immediately. The investigation should complete within 65 working days of the date of my final decision.
26. The apology written should be in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies on making an effective apology.
27. Payments made are in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies.
28. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

29. I have now completed my investigation. I uphold this complaint with a finding of fault causing an injustice.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman