Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of the Council’s Local Authority Designated Officer. The Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mrs X and progress her complaint through its corporate complaints process.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council’s Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) made unlawful assumptions about her and a third party during an investigation. Mrs X says she has lost two jobs as a result of the LADO’s actions, which has affected her financial stability and health.

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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 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 s34H(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

6. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint at stage one of its corporate complaints procedure. Mrs X was unhappy with the outcome. The Council then said it would take her complaint to Stage two of a different process – its statutory children’s services complaints process.
7. After we asked the Council to progress the matter it decided to move Mrs X’s complaint back into its corporate complaints procedure. This was because the Council concluded it had been using the wrong procedure and this complaint was not for the statutory procedure.
8. We will not normally investigate a complaint until a council has had a fair opportunity to properly consider and respond to it. We therefore asked the Council to:
1. consider Mrs X’s complaint at stage two of its corporate complaints procedure and issue a formal response within 20 working days;
2. tell Mrs X this is what it intends to do; and
3. pay Mrs X £100 in recognition of the confusion and delay caused by the Council changing which process it used to consider her complaint.
9. Once the Council has issued its stage two response Mrs X can come back to us if she is still dissatisfied with the outcome.

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Agreed action

10. To its credit the Council agreed to progress Mrs X’s complaint without further delay. It will complete point b) above immediately, point a) above within 20 working days of today and point c) above within one month of today.

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Final decision

11. We will not investigate this complaint because the Council has agreed to progress it without further delay and provide a proportionate remedy for the injustice its delay caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman