Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to complete a Carers Assessment when she requested it. Miss X says the Council passed her between the children’s and adult’s teams. Miss X also says the Council completed a Child and Family Assessment poorly. Miss X says this has caused her distress and frustration. Based on current evidence we have found fault in the Councils actions. The Council has agreed to investigate Miss X’s complaint about the assessment being completed poorly under the Children’s Statutory Complaints Procedure, issue an apology to Miss X and pay Miss X a financial payment to recognise the delay and distress caused.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Council failed to complete a Carers Assessment when she requested it. Miss X says the Council passed her between the children’s and adult’s teams. Miss X also says the Council completed a Child and Family Assessment (CFA) poorly.
2. Miss X says this has caused her distress and frustration.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), 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 considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Miss X and the Council were invited to comment on my draft decision. I have considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

8. 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.
9. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution, where councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.

What happened

13. Miss X contacted the Council in December 2023 and asked for a Carers assessment. The Council sent Miss X forms to complete.
14. Miss X queried the purpose of filling in forms rather than the Council completing an assessment being. The Council told Miss X it would seek further advice and come back to her. However, Miss X did not receive a further response.
15. Miss X contacted the Council to say she believed it was in breach of the Children and Families Act 2014 for not providing an assessment when asked.
16. Miss X complained to the Council about homelessness and the request for a Carers Assessment. The Council responded in September 2024. The Council noted in its response its Corporate Complaints Procedure would not necessarily consider complaints relating to Children’s Services but in this instance, it had chosen to do so. The Council said this was to try and provide a comprehensive response to the points Miss X had raised.
17. The Council’s response said it was at fault for delaying in completing the Carers Assessment Miss X requested and offered Miss X £500 as a remedy.
18. Miss X wrote to the Council in September 2024 to explain why she was unhappy with the Council’s response. Miss X also told the Council in October 2024 that she was unhappy with the CFA it completed.
19. The Council confirmed Miss X’s complaint in early November 2024 but said it would take no action as her complaint had already been upheld.

Analysis

20. There are three criteria the Council should apply when deciding which complaint procedure should be used:

• What is complained about; as indicated in the Guide complaints about assessments and services for children in need, looked after children, Special Guardianship support and post-adoption support should generally be considered under the children’s statutory complaint procedure;
• Who complains;
• Is the complaint about the discharge of the council’s functions in relation to a child.

21. Miss X’s complaint relates to child and family assessments and the Council should therefore have considered it under the Statutory Complaint Procedure. The Council did not do so here. This is fault.
22. I appreciate the Council chose to investigate the complaint under the Corporate Complaints Procedure to try to provide Miss X with a comprehensive response. However, the Council should have followed the Statutory Complaints Procedure.
23. Miss X has been denied the chance of her complaint being reviewed under the correct procedure and the chance for the complaint to be reviewed under another stage.
24. The Council has considered Miss X’s complaint already, albeit under the wrong complaint’s procedure, and it would not benefit Miss X to consider the complaint about the council’s failure to complete a carers assessment again. This is because the Council has already found fault with this element and offered a remedy of £500. This is a suitable remedy for the fault identified and is in line with our remedies guidance.
25. However, the Council has not considered Miss X’s complaint about how the assessment was completed following her original complaint.

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Action

26. Within four weeks of a final decision, the Council should:

• Arrange to review Miss X’s complaint about how the Children’s and Family Assessment was competed under the Children’s Statutory Complaints Procedure.
• Write to Miss X to apologise for the faults identified.
• Pay Miss X £200 in recognition of the delay in reviewing her complaint under the correct procedure.
• Pay Miss X the £500 the Council suggested in recognition of the delays in completing a Carer’s Assessment when requested.

27. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

28. I find fault causing injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman