Northumberland County Council (25 000 850)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the delay in the Council responding to her stage two complaint under the children statutory complaints procedure. This is because the Council has already provided an appropriate remedy to recognise the injustice caused by the faults accepted.
The complaint
- Ms X complains about delay in the Council responding to her stage two complaint under the children statutory complaints procedure.
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)
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- If we were to investigate, it is likely we would find fault causing the complainant injustice. This is because the Council has not completed the stage two investigation within the required statutory timescales.
- Taking the stage two start date as 29 July 2024, the Council should have completed stage two by 29 October. The Council only issued its stage two adjudication response on 30 April. Therefore, this is a delay of around six months.
- In its adjudication response, the Council has recognised this delay and offered a symbolic payment of £500 to recognise the time and trouble caused by this. This is an appropriate remedy and is more than what we would have recommended.
- The Council has also offered a remedy payment to recognise the uncertainty, frustration, distress, and missed opportunities caused to Ms X and her son. A total of £2000. This is an appropriate offer and is more than what we could have achieved.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because the Council has already provided an appropriate remedy to recognise the injustice caused by the faults accepted.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman