Summary:We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed considering a complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has now agreed to resolve the complaint by issuing its stage two response without further delay. It will also apologise and offer to make a payment to the complainant to remedy the time and trouble they have been too.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains with the support of her representative about the Council has dealt with matters concerning her care as a looked after child. Miss X asked the Ombudsman to intervene after she did not receive a stage two response to her complaint.

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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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. 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

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

The statutory complaints procedure

6. 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.
7. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution, where councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
8. 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 investigator and an independent person who is responsible for overseeing the investigation. Councils have up to 13 weeks to complete stage two of the process from the date of request.
9. The start date is defined as the date the complainant requests the stage two in writing, or where the complaint was made orally, the date on which the council produces a final written record of the complaint.
10. 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 days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 days of the panel hearing.
11. The statutory guidance says that if a complaint has been accepted at stage one the local authority is obliged to ensure the complaint proceeds to stages two and three if the complainant requests this.

Assessment

12. Miss X requested, via her representative, for the Council to escalate her complaint to stage two of the statutory complaints procedure in May 2024.
13. If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely we would find the Council at fault. This is because there has been a delay in the Council considering the complaint and issuing Miss X with a stage two response. This has meant Miss X has been to some significant time and trouble pursuing her complaint and distress due to not receiving answers to questions raised in her complaint.
14. We therefore asked the Council to complete its investigation within one month, advising Miss X how she can escalate his complaint further. We also asked the Council to apologise to Miss X for the delay and offer to make a payment to her of £150 to remedy the time and trouble she has been too pursuing his complaint and the distress caused by the delay.
15. To its credit, the Council agreed to resolve the complaint and has agreed with our recommendation. It will therefore write to Miss X within one month with its stage two response and to apologise for the delays and to offer a £150 payment.

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Final decision

16. We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing an appropriate remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman