Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to handle her complaint properly via the children’s statutory complaint procedure. The Council was at fault. Despite assuring the Ombudsman it would start the procedure; it failed to do so. Miss X has been denied her right to a proper investigation into her complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise to Miss X and start the children’s statutory complaints procedure without delay.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to protect her and her sibling from abuse.
2. She said the Council had multiple opportunities to intervene and failed to do so.
3. Miss X said the Councils failure to act had a profound, devastating and lifelong effect on her and her immediate family members.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. 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)
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
6. 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(1), as amended)

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What I have and have not investigated

7. I have investigated the Councils handling of Miss X’s complaint via the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
8. The children’s statutory complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough, and prompt response to their concerns. Because of this, we expect people to complete the complaints procedure before we will consider whether there were any flaws in how the Council investigated their concerns.
9. I have therefore not investigated the substantive matters complained of.

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How I considered this complaint

10. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
11. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law and guidance

12. 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. We also published practitioner guidance on the procedures, setting out our expectations.
13. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
14. 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 investigating officer (IO) to look into the complaint and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring its independence.
15. Following the investigation, a senior manager (the adjudicating officer) at the council should carry out an adjudication. The officer considers the IO report and any report from the IP. They decide what the council’s response to the complaint will be, including what action it will take. The adjudicating officer should then write to the complainant with a copy of the investigation report, any report from the independent person and the adjudication response.
16. The whole stage two process should be completed within 25 working days but guidance allows an extension for up to 65 working days where required.
17. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome 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 working days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 working days of the panel hearing.

What happened here

18. The following list is a summary of key events relevant to the complaint being investigated. It is not a list of everything that happened.
19. Miss X complained to the Ombudsman in May 2025.
20. Miss X complained because the Council refused to consider her complaint to it via the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
21. The Council told Miss X this was because of the time that had passed since the matters complained of.
22. The Ombudsman issued a final decision about Miss X’s complaint in July 2025. We upheld Miss X’s complaint. The Council agreed to investigate Miss X’s complaint via the children’s statutory complaints procedure. We decided this action resolved the complaint appropriately.
23. Shortly after a senior Council officer met with Miss X. The officer and Miss X had a conversation about her experiences. The officer summarised the conversation in an email to Miss X. The officer sent Miss X some personal gifts following their meeting.
24. Miss X did not receive notification of the procedure starting, in the proper or expected manner.
25. Since, Miss X asked the Council again to progress the procedure formally. Three weeks have passed since the conversation with the senior officer. Miss X has received no contact, other than the gifts delivered to her home.

My findings

26. The substantive matters complained of are catastrophic in nature. The impact of such events has been, as reported by Miss X, life changing for her and her whole family.
27. Miss X is entitled to request access to the children’s statutory complaints procedure to have her complaint properly and independently investigated. The procedure is a unique process designed to make sure councils hear and respond to the voices of vulnerable children and young people.
28. I find fault with the actions of the Council. The Council failed to formally commence the children’s statutory complaints procedure in July 2025, despite assuring the Ombudsman it would do so.
29. This failure has resulted in further frustration and undue time and trouble for Miss X.

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Action

30. To remedy the injustice caused to Miss X, within four weeks of a final decision, the Council has agreed to:
• Apologise to Miss X in line with our guidance on Making an Effective Apology. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings, and
• Start stage two of the statutory children’s complaints procedure without further delay. Timescales set out in the statutory guidance ‘Getting the Best from Complaints’ should be adhered to at stage two and should Miss X wish to further escalate her complaint, at stage three. If the investigation takes longer than 25 days at stage two, Miss X should be informed of the reasons why and it should take no longer than 65 days to complete.
31. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

32. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman