Summary: Ms X complained about the way the Council dealt with support for her and her children. The Council was at fault for delays in the children’s statutory complaint procedure. This caused Ms X frustration and uncertainty. The Council should apologise and make a payment to recognise the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains the Council failed to provide the necessary care and support to her and her children. She says the Council:

• failed to respond in line with the statutory complaint process;
• delayed in carrying out a carers assessment;
• delayed in carrying out a children and family assessment;
• failed to provide respite care;
• failed to respond to a safeguarding referral; and
• failed to respond to her request for the children to be cared for under section 20.

2. Ms X says this has caused them to be exhausted and feel unsafe as a family. She also said it has caused them severe distress and financial strain. Ms X says a family member has had to give up college, move in with them to provide unpaid care for the children.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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)
5. 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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What I have and have not investigated

6. I have not investigated Ms X’s substantive complaints. I have explained why in paragraph 31.
7. I have investigated the Council’s actions within the statutory complaint process.

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How I considered this complaint

8. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
9. Ms 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

Legislation and guidance

Statutory complaints procedure

10. Section 26(3) of the Children Act, 1989 provides that all functions of the local authority under Part 3 of the Act may form the subject of a complaint. For example, a complaint may arise as a result of many things relating to statutory social services
11. 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.
12. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
13. 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.
14. 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.
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. The Ombudsman would normally expect a council and complainant to follow the full complaints procedure. The guidance sets out the circumstances in which a complaint can be referred to the Ombudsman without completing all three stages. This can only happen when the stage two investigation is robust with all, or all significant complaints upheld. Councils must show they agree to meet most of the complainant’s desired outcomes and have a clear action plan for delivery.

Section 17 duties

18. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 says councils must safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.
19. A child is in need if:

• they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development unless the council provides support;
• their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired unless the council provides support; or
• they are disabled.

Section 20

20. 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.

21. 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.

What happened and findings

22. Ms X’s three children were supported by the Council under its section 17 duties.
23. Ms X was unhappy about how the Council dealt with these duties and made a complaint. The Council dealt with this complaint under the statutory complaint procedure.
24. Ms X made a stage two complaint on 22 July 2025, so the Council should have responded by mid-October.
25. Instead, the Council did not send its stage two adjudication letter to Ms X until 19 December 2025.
26. The Council’s delayed response to her stage two complaint was fault, which caused Ms X frustration and uncertainty.
27. Ms X told me she was unhappy with some of the findings of the stage two investigation. She also considered that the Council has failed to remedy all the injustice caused to her and her family and delayed in completing some of the agreed actions.
28. Ms X noted that she did not intend to escalate her complaint to stage three and instead asked the Ombudsman to investigate further.
29. 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. Because of this, we expect a council to complete the complaints procedure.
30. Ms X still has the option of escalating her complaint to stage three of the statutory procedure. The purpose of the stage three panel is to, amongst other things, focus on achieving resolution for the complainant by addressing complaints and desired outcomes and to review the sufficiency of recommendations.
31. For this reason, I will not investigate Ms X’s substantive complaints further. If Ms X decides to escalate her complaint to stage three, and remains dissatisfied with the outcome of this investigation, she has the option of asking us to consider whether we could investigate her complaint again.

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Action

32. Within four weeks of our final decision, the Council has agreed to:
• apologise to Ms X for the delay in issuing the stage two adjudication letter. We publish guidance which sets out what we expect an effective apology to look like. The Council should consider this guidance when writing to Ms X; and
• make a symbolic payment of £100 to Ms X to recognise the frustration and uncertainty this delay likely caused her. This payment is calculated at the rate of £50 per month of delay.
33. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman