Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s assessment of Mr X’s children and its communication with him. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by completing the statutory children’s complaint procedure.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s assessment of his children and its communication with him. He says he experienced avoidable distress, missed out on contact with his children, and had to go to time and trouble pursuing his complaint.

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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 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)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My Assessment

5. The Council completed a Child and Family Assessment of Mr X’s children. It decided to support the family under Child in Need plans.
6. The Council responded to Mr X’s complaint about this at stage one of its process. It refused to consider a stage two complaint because it said the stage one response addressed the complaint, so Mr X complained to us.
7. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services, including assessments and support for Children in Need.
8. 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.
9. The Council must accept complaints under this process from people entitled to complain. Mr X, as a parent, is a person who can complain. The Council cannot refuse to complete a stage two investigation because it considers the outcome will not change.
10. If we were to investigate, it is likely we would find fault with the Council for its failure to follow the statutory children’s complaints procedure. To avoid the need for further investigation and remedy the injustice to Mr X, the Council has agreed to:
• Start a stage two investigation under the statutory children’s complaint process
• Provide information to Mr X about the statutory process, including stage three and then a complaint to us if he remains unhappy
• Pay Mr X £200 in recognition of his avoidable distress and time and trouble pursuing his complaint.
11. The Council will take this action within one month of this decision.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has agreed to complete the statutory children’s complaint procedure and remedy the injustice to Mr X from its previous failure to do so.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman