Summary: The Council has failed to complete the stage two investigation into Mr X’s complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure within statutory timescales. The Council will make a payment to Mr X to acknowledge the injustice caused by the delay. It will also continue making a monthly payment until the stage two investigation is concluded.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council has delayed responding to his complaint which is being handled at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
2. Mr X said the matter is causing significant distress, uncertainty and time and trouble chasing the matter.

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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 recommend 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(1), 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 the substantive matters of Mr X’s complaint or considered whether there have been any flaws in the investigation because the children’s statutory complaint procedure has not yet been completed. I have considered the delays in its handling of Mr X’s complaint at stage two with the aim of getting the statutory complaint procedure completed.

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How I considered this complaint

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

The statutory complaints procedure

9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Following the investigation, a senior manager (the adjudicating officer) at the council should carry out an adjudication. 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.
12. 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.

What happened

13. In 2025 Mr X complained to the Council about its handling and administration of direct payments for care regarding his disabled child, Y.
14. The Council began an investigation of Mr X’s complaints under the children’s statutory complaints procedure and issued a stage one response during 2025.
15. Mr X was unhappy with the stage one response and evidence shows he formally escalated the matter to a stage two investigation at the end of January 2026. After agreeing the statement of complaint and in line with statutory timescales the Council should have issued the investigation report and adjudication letter within 65 working days. So, by early May 2026 at the latest.
16. In June 2026 Mr X complained to us as the Council had not issued the stage two report and was not communicating with him about the matter.
17. The Council said it wrote to Mr X in June 2026 apologising for the delay in completing the stage two investigation. The letter anticipated the report would be finalised by the end of July 2026. It offered Mr X a payment of £200 to acknowledge the distress caused by the delays. Mr X however reported to us however that he did not receive the letter until August 2026 (after we chased the Council). The Council stated this was due to an IT error.

My findings

18. We expect councils to follow statutory timescales set out in the law and the statutory guidance. We are likely to find fault where there are significant breaches of those timescales.
19. The Council has accepted that it has failed to issue the stage two investigation report and adjudication letter to Mr X in line with statutory timescales. There is also limited evidence by way of updates provided to Mr X as to the reasons for the delay. The delay and poor communication was fault. At the time of writing the delay is 59 working days and this has caused Mr X distress, uncertainty and time and trouble chasing the matter. The delay is ongoing which means the injustice continues.
20. In line with our guidance on remedies the Council’s apology and offer of £200 is sufficient to remedy injustice caused by the delay up August 2026. I have made further recommendations below to ensure the Council remedies any injustice caused by further delays and to ensure it provides him with regular updates going forward.

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Action

21. Within one month of the final decision the Council agreed to take the following action:
1. Pay Mr X the £200 already offered to acknowledge the distress, uncertainty and time and trouble caused to him by the delays in completing the stage two investigation under the children’s statutory complaints procedure.
2. Provide Mr X with updates of the investigation progress every two weeks until the stage two investigation is concluded. The Council should start these updates as soon as the final decision is issued.
3. If the Council has not completed the stage two investigation by the end of August it should pay Mr X a further £50 a month from September 2026 onwards for each additional month’s delay for a maximum of six months. Mr X should complain to us again if the Stage two investigation is not complete at this point.
22. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

23. I find fault causing injustice and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy that injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman