Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about delay in the Council’s handling of his complaint under the statutory children complaints procedure. This is because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about delay in the Council’s handling of his complaint under the statutory children complaints procedure.

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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 an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. The Children Act 1989 sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. We call this the ‘statutory children complaints procedure’.
6. If we were to investigate, it is likely we would find fault causing Mr X an injustice. This is because the Council should have completed stage two within 65 working days of Mr X’s request. Mr X provided evidence he asked the Council to escalate his complaint to stage two in April 2025. This means the Council should have completed stage two by mid-July 2025.
7. The Council told us there had been some confusion about Mr X’s complaint. However, it has since confirmed the complaint has now been progressed to stage two. This means the Council has failed to complete its stage two investigation within the required timescales. I am satisfied this delay will be causing Mr X distress and frustration.
8. We therefore invited the Council to remedy this by completing the following:
• Complete its stage two investigation within two months of the final decision.
• Apologise to Mr X, within four weeks of the final decision, for the delay in progressing his stage two complaint.
• Make a payment of £50 for each month of delay. As the delay is likely to be around two months, the total to pay is £100. This is to be paid within four weeks for the final decision.

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Agreed action

9. The Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within the agreed timescales.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld Mr X’s complaint because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman