Summary: Mr X complained about information included in a children’s social care assessment. We have found that the Council was at fault, as it has not yet dealt with Mr X’s complaint properly. It will now do so.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains that the Council’s children’s social care service completed a poor assessment which contained numerous ‘misrepresentations and errors’. He says the Council agreed to re-do the assessment, but then did not do so.
2. Mr X says the Council’s social workers failed to attend two pre-agreed appointments without prior warning. He also says the Council mishandled his complaint.
3. Mr X says the Council has caused him distress. He wants compensation, and he wants the Council to improve its service.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. If we are satisfied with a council’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)
6. 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

7. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

9. The statutory guidance, ‘Getting the best from complaints’, sets out a three-stage procedure for complaints about certain aspects of children’s social care. I refer to this as ‘the statutory procedure’.
10. Parents can use this procedure to complain about their children’s social care assessment and support.
11. The benefit of the statutory procedure is that the parent gets an independent investigation of their complaint (at stage 2), and, if they wish, an independent review (at stage 3).
12. If a complainant wants to progress their complaint through all three stages of the statutory procedure, then they have the right to do so.
13. The Ombudsman normally expects councils (and complainants) to follow the full statutory procedure before involving us. A complaint can only be referred to the Ombudsman earlier if, following a robust stage two investigation, all significant parts of the complaint have been upheld.
14. In Mr X’s case, the Council says it did not put his complaint through the statutory procedure because the complaint was primarily about Mr X’s interests, not his son’s, and it was also related to safeguarding (which is not always included within the statutory procedure).
15. However, although safeguarding was a feature of the Council’s social care involvement with Mr X’s son, its assessment was conducted under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, which is a relevant matter under the statutory procedure (rather than section 47, which is not).
16. Furthermore, although Mr X’s complaints do focus largely on issues he himself experienced, he had a right to make a complaint under the statutory procedure (as per section 26(3) of the Children Act) and has a right to a stage 2 investigation if he wants one.
17. With this in mind, and as the criteria for an early referral to the Ombudsman are not met, the complaint should now be considered under stage 2 of the statutory procedure.
18. If Mr X is still unhappy after all three stages of the statutory procedure have been completed, he can come back to us and ask us to consider his complaint.

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Action

19. Within two weeks, the Council has agreed to allocate an investigator to consider Mr X’s complaint under stage 2 of the statutory children’s complaints procedure.
20. The Council will provide us with evidence it has done this.

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Decision

21. The Council was at fault for failing to handle Mr X’s complaint properly. This caused him an injustice, which the Council will now take action to address.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman