Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint because the Council delayed responding to her complaint and considered the complaint under the incorrect procedure. The Council has agreed to provide a proportionate remedy to Miss X.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains about the care the Council have provided to her daughter. She says the Council have not communicated with her effectively and her complaints have been ignored or refused. She says this is impacting on her daughter.

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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 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).
3. 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).

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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

6. If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find the Council at fault. It did not use the statutory children’s complaint procedure to consider Miss X’s complaint and did not complete its responses on time.
7. We asked the Council to consider resolving the complaint early by considering Miss X’s complaint using stage two of the statutory children’s complaints procedure and writing to Miss X to apologise for not having done so sooner. We also suggested the Council pay Miss X £450 to remedy the delays totalling two months at stage one and seven months at stage two of the complaints process. To its credit the Council agreed.
8. If Miss X is unhappy with the final response she receives from the Council under she can contact the Ombudsman again.

Agreed Action

9. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint by completing the suggested actions within one month of this decision.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman