Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to safeguard her child, Y, from risks of exploitation. The Council was at fault for failing to consider Mrs X’s complaint through the children’s statutory complaint procedure. The Council has agreed to consider Mrs X’s complaint through the correct procedure, apologise and pay Mrs X a symbolic amount to recognise the frustration caused to her.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to safeguard her child, Y, from risks of exploitation. She said the Council did not sufficiently consider her concerns or provide sufficient support for Y which also caused risk to her child, Z and distress to her. Mrs X said the Council’s communication with her was poor, adding to her distress and frustration.

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

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Mrs X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. Mrs 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

Relevant legislation and guidance

Section 17 of the Children Act 1989

7. The Children Act 1989, section 17, requires councils to safeguard and promote the welfare of ‘children in need’ in their area, including disabled children, by providing appropriate services for them.
8. According to the Council’s document ‘Thresholds for Need and Support’, support under Section 17 is provided through Family Help services.

Section 20 of the Children Act 1989

9. Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 says councils shall provide accommodation to any child in need within their area who needs it, because:

• there is nobody with parental responsibility to care for them;
• they have been lost or abandoned; or
• the person who has been caring for them being prevented from providing suitable accommodation or care.

10. Councils cannot accommodate a child under section 20 if a person holding parental responsibility objects and is willing and able to care for the child or arrange care for the child.
11. Councils need to distinguish between private arrangements made between parents and carers, and arrangements in which the child is accommodated under the Children Act 1989 and so is a looked after child.

Statutory children’s complaint procedure

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 guidance sets out who can complain and what can be complained about. This includes all functions of the local authority under Part 3 of the Children Act 1989, including those provided under Section 17 and Section 20.
14. A complaint by a relevant person about an unwelcome or disputed decision or the impact on a child or young person of the application of a council policy should be considered under the children’s statutory complaint procedure.
15. The council does not need consent from the child or young person to investigate a complaint from a relevant person. However, it may need consent from the child or young person to disclose information about them to the person making a complaint.
16. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.
21. The Ombudsman would normally expect a council and complainant to follow the full complaints procedure.

What happened

22. In 2024, when Y was 17, concerns were raised after episodes of them going missing. Y had contact with the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub (MASH) who referred them to a Strengthening Families Hub. Strengthening Families Hubs are the Council’s mechanism for delivering support under Section 17.
23. Mrs X says she frequently raised concerns during 2024 about the ongoing risk to Y and consequent risk to her younger child, Z. She did not feel the support offered by the Strengthening Families Hub was effective and said she raised this at multi-agency meetings and with the Team Manager.
24. In December 2024 Y was arrested after an incident at home. They were given bail conditions and have not returned to live at their home address since then.
25. Mrs X requested the Council provide accommodation for Y under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 at that time. Mrs X said accommodation for Y was not provided under Section 20 until May 2025.
26. In January 2025 Mrs X complained to the Council about the support provided by Strengthening Families and by the Multi-Agency Child Exploitation (MACE) meetings, put in place by the Council to safeguard Y and reduce the risk of child exploitation. Mrs X also complained about the actions of a Social Worker when bail was arranged for Y after their arrest.
27. The Council responded using its corporate complaints procedure in January 2025. The response addressed Mrs X’s complaint about the Social Worker and bail arrangements but did not address her other concerns.
28. Mrs X made a further complaint to the Council in January 2025. Mrs X complained:

• failures in assessment and intervention during 2024 meant the Council had failed to safeguard Y;
• there had been no proper risk assessment by the Council in its decision as to where Y should be accommodated;
• there was no action plan to prevent any future failures; and
• there was poor communication from the Council.

29. In May 2025 the Council responded to some parts of Mrs X’s complaint but did not address her complaint about its assessments and interventions for Y and Z through its Strengthening Families Hub during 2024.

My findings

30. The Council used its corporate complaints procedure to respond to Mrs X’s complaint. In its response it did not address all the complaints she made, including the Council’s assessment and intervention during 2024. This is fault and caused frustration to Mrs X.
31. The Council’s corporate complaints policy says it will respond to Stage 2 complaints within 20 working days. The Council took 114 working days to respond to Mrs X’s Stage 2 complaint. This is fault and caused frustration and uncertainty to Mrs X.
32. The statutory children’s 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. This independence is not available to complaints put through the corporate complaints procedure.
33. Because of this, we expect people to complete the children’s statutory complaints procedure before we will consider whether there were any flaws in how the Council investigated their concerns. I have therefore not investigated Mrs X’s substantive complaints.
34. Mrs X complained to the Council about:

• the support provided to Y, by the Strengthening Families Hub under section 17 of the Children’s Act 1989;
• its failure to properly assess the risk to Y, and to her child Z, when providing information to the Magistrates Court;
• its failure to safeguard Y when they had been removed from the home address; and
• its delay in accommodating Y under Section 20 of the Children’s Act 1989 when they could not return home.

35. The statutory guidance sets out complaints about decisions under Section 17 and Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 should be considered through the statutory children’s complaints procedure. Although complaints about safeguarding are not covered by the statutory complaints process, where it forms part of a larger complaint, we expect the Council to consider the matter through a single process.
36. The Council’s failure to respond to Mrs X’s complaint using the correct process is fault. This caused Mrs X uncertainty as to the outcome of her complaint if it had been properly considered.

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Agreed Actions

37. Within one month of this decision the Council has agreed to take the following actions:
1. Write to Mrs X and apologise for the frustration and time and trouble caused to her by the Council’s failure to respond to all parts of her complaint, its delay in responding to her complaint and failure to use the children’s statutory complaint procedure. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council will consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended.
2. Pay Mrs X a symbolic amount of £200 to recognise the delay in responding to her complaint and frustration caused in not responding to all parts of her complaint.
3. Begin a stage two consideration of Mrs X’s complaint under the children’s statutory complaint procedure. The Council should contact Mrs X to explain the process to her.
38. Within three months of this decision the Council has agreed to review how it screens complaints about children’s social care and ensure the screening process is in line with the statutory guidance as to whether a complaint should be considered through the corporate complaint procedure or the children's statutory complaint procedure.
39. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

40. I find fault causing injustice and the council has agreed to take action to remedy that injustice.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman