London Borough of Haringey (26 004 980)
Category : Children's care services > Other
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 25 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council delayed complying with agreed actions laid out in a previous decision made by the Ombudsman. This is because any delay has not caused Mr X a significant enough injustice.
The complaint
- Mr X complains that the Council failed to comply with an agreed action under a previous decision by the Ombudsman. He says the Council’s failure to issue a response to his complaint at stage two of the statutory children’s complaints procedure has caused him distress and impacted his mental health.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Mr X previously complained to the Ombudsman that the Council had delayed considering his complaint at stage two of the statutory children’s complaints procedure. We issued a final decision on 23 April after the Council agreed that in one month it would apologise, make a payment to Mr X and issue its stage two response.
- I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has not complied with the agreed action to issue its stage two response within one month. This is because this has not caused Mr X a significant enough injustice to warrant investigation by the Ombudsman.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman