Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to care provision for her children. The Council was at fault for delay in investigating Ms X’s complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure, causing uncertainty and distress. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms X, investigate her complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure, make a payment to recognise the injustice and act to prevent recurrence.

The complaint

1. Ms X complains about how the Council handled the provision of care services for her children. Ms X says there were numerous failings and safeguarding concerns causing real anxiety and distress.

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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, 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)
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 34H(1), as amended)
4. 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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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered evidence provided by Ms X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
6. 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

Children’s statutory complaints process

7. 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.
8. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have 10 working says to respond to a complaint at stage one, with an additional 10 working days for more complex complaint.
9. 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 independent investigating officer (IO) and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation. Councils have 25 working days to complete stage two of the process, with a maximum extension to 65 working days if agreed with the complainant.
10. 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 days of the panel hearing.
11. We expect councils to complete the statutory children’s complaints process before we will consider a complaint.

What happened

12. I have summarised below some key events leading to Ms X’s complaint. While I have considered everything submitted, this is not intended to be a detailed account of what took place.
13. The Council supported Ms X and her family with commissioned specialist care. Ms X has said there were numerous safeguarding issues and concerns about the care that she raised with the Council.
14. Ms X raised a complaint with the Council at stage one of the statutory process on 8 October 2025.
15. Unhappy with how it responded to her concerns, Ms X wrote to the Council on 13 November to ask it to consider her complaint at stage two of the process. The Council wrote to Ms X to acknowledge this on 17 November.
16. On 12 December the Council missed the 25-working day deadline to complete stage two of the process.
17. In January 2026 Ms X contacted the Council to explain she was unhappy with the lack of updates. The Council explained Ms X’s complaint was at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints process and it would update her further once an IO and an IP had been identified.
18. Due to a lack of progress, Ms X brought her complaint to the Ombudsman. We wrote to the Council in February 2026 asking it to complete stage two of the statutory process and pay Ms X £100 to recognize the distress arising from the delay.
19. The Council has made the payment to Ms X but it has not yet completed stage two of the statutory process.
20. The Council has explained that following a recent service restructure it is experiencing delays in progressing stage two investigations as the number of IOs and IPs available to it has reduced. The Council has said it is working to reduce the backlog of complaints and is seeking to source additional IOs.

Analysis

21. Ms X asked the Council to consider her complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure on 13 November 2025. That it did not complete this process by 12 December 2025 is fault and caused uncertainty and distress for Ms X, which is injustice.
22. In February 2026 the Council agreed to our recommendations to, within one month, pay Ms X £100 in recognition of the injustice caused and complete the stage two investigation. While it made payment to Ms X, that the Council has not yet completed the stage two investigation means the injustice has continued beyond that time.

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Action

23. To remedy the injustice identified above, the Council should complete the following actions:
24. Within one month of the date of this decision:
• Apologise to Ms X for the continued injustice caused by the ongoing delay in completing a stage two investigation into her complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.
• Complete the stage two investigation into Ms X’s complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
• Pay Ms X an additional £100 to recognise the ongoing injustice caused by the delay.
25. Within three months of the date of this decision:
• Create and implement an action plan to reduce the backlog of complaints at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure and prevent a recurrence of this fault going forward.
26. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

27. I find fault causing injustice. The Council has agreed actions to remedy injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman