London Borough of Enfield (25 007 709)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint because the Council delayed progressing a complaint through stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has now agreed to resolve the complaint by completing its stage two investigation without further delay, apologising to Miss X and making a payment to her to remedy the time and trouble she has been to.
The complaint
- Miss X complains that the Council failed to provide adequate support for her child. She asked the Ombudsman to intervene after the Council delayed considering her complaint at stage two of the statutory children’s 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)
- 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 now, it is likely we would find the Council at fault. This is because there has been a delay in the Council allocating Miss X’s complaint to an investigator and independent person. This has meant Miss X has been to some time and trouble pursuing her complaint.
- We therefore asked the Council to complete its investigation without further delay, to apologise to Miss X for the delay and to make a payment to her of £50 to remedy the time and trouble she has been to. To its credit, the Council agreed
Final decision
- We have upheld Miss X’s complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing an appropriate remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman