London Borough of Lewisham (25 006 314)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We have upheld this complaint because the Council delayed considering a complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has now agreed to resolve the complaint by issuing its stage two response without further delay. It will also apologise and offer to make a payment to the complainant to remedy the time and trouble they have been to.
The complaint
- Miss X complains about information that the Council’s children’s services include in assessments. Miss X asked the Ombudsman to intervene after she did not receive a stage two response to her 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 the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- If we were to investigate this complaint it is likely we would find the Council at fault. This is because there has been a delay in the Council considering the complaint and issuing Miss X with a stage two response. This has meant she has been to some significant time and trouble pursuing her complaint.
- We therefore asked the Council to complete its investigation within one month, advising Miss X how she can escalate her complaint further. We also asked the Council to apologise to Miss X for the delay and offer to make a payment to her of £150 to remedy the time and trouble she has been to pursuing her complaint. To its credit, the Council agreed.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing an appropriate remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman