Staffordshire County Council (24 022 705)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint because the Council failed to resolve her complaint within the required timeframe under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X.
The complaint
- Miss X complained the Council’s had not responded to her stage two complaint within the prescribed timescales for a statutory children’s complaint.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- 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)
- Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Miss X asked to escalate her complaint to stage two of the statutory children’s process in August 2024.
- The timeframe for completing the investigation is a maximum of 65 working days. It should have been completed by November 2024 but was not completed until April 2025.
- If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find the Council at fault, because the Council exceeded the timeframe for resolving this complaint. This caused Mrs X distress in the form of frustration.
- We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions, by apologising within one month and providing a remedy payment of £250. To its credit the Council agreed to our proposal.
Final decision
- We have upheld Miss X’s complaint because the Council failed to resolve her complaint within the required timeframe under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman