Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s children services complaint as the Council has agreed to a proportionate way to resolve the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained to the Council in January 2024 about children services’ actions. He says its action caused his family distress.

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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 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 a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
3. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

Background 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. 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. If a complainant is unhappy with the result 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.

This case’s events

10. Mr X complained to the Council in January 2024 about children services’ actions. The Council replied at stage one of the Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure in February 2024. Mr X asked for a stage two in March 2024. The Council completed stage two in October 2024. It completed stage three in December 2024.
11. We cannot investigate most of Mr X’s complaint made to the Council as it is about the evidence used in Court proceedings and the reasons the Council applied to Court. We also cannot look at the care Mr X’s child received whilst cared for by the Council as they are now over 18 and would need to consent to any complaint about their care.
12. We can consider the Council’s complaint process used to reply to Mr X. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing Mr X injustice because the Council’s stage two reply is outside the statutory complaints’ procedure regulations timescales.

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Agreed action

13. The Council has agreed to a symbolic payment of:
• £200 for the injustice (uncertainty and frustration) caused by the delay outside the children services statutory complaint procedure timescale.

14. This is a suitable remedy for the frustration and uncertainty caused by the delay

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Final decision

15. We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman