Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council (26 004 592)
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint because the Council delayed considering this under the children’s statutory complaints process. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X.
The complaint
- Miss X complains about the Council’s delays in planning and support for her child to mitigate the risks of their new home. Miss X also complains of delays at stage 2 of the children’s statutory complaints process.
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 Miss X and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing Miss X injustice because the Council has delayed its stage 2 investigation by five months. We will not consider the substantive complaint unless Miss X remains unhappy on completion of the statutory process.
- We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by taking the following actions within one month of this decision:
- Complete stage 2 of the statutory procedure without further delay,
- Ensure the stage 2 response informs Miss X she can request a stage three panel if she remains unhappy, and
- Pay Miss X £250 for frustration caused by avoidable delay.
Agreed action
- To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by completing the actions at paragraph 7.
Final decision
- We have upheld this complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman