Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in the Council’s handling of a complaint about child protection. The Council has agreed to make a symbolic payment to Mr X and complete the complaint process without further delay. We consider this to be a suitable resolution.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council included incorrect information about him in a document which it sent to third parties. Mr X also says the Council has taken too long to progress his complaint through Stage 2 of the children’s services statutory complaints process (the complaint process), refused to escalate it to Stage 3 and misspelt his name. Mr X says he feels his life means nothing to social services, which has affected his confidence in them.

Back to top

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)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
6. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

Back to top

My assessment

7. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing Mr X injustice because the documents show the Council has taken longer to complete Stage 2 of the complaint process than the 65 days allowed in the statutory guidance.
8. To resolve this part of Mr X’s complaint early we therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its delay by:
1. completing Stage 2 without any further undue delay; and
2. within one month of today, paying Mr X £50 per month of delay from the date Stage 2 should have been completed, 29 May 2026, until the date it agreed to our proposed resolution, 15 September 2026, which is £150 in total; and
3. paying Mr X £50 per full month of ongoing delay, up to a maximum of six months, calculated from the date the Council agreed to our proposed resolution, 15 September 2026, until the date the Council sends its Stage 2 adjudication letter.
9. At this stage, I have only considered the complaint-handling problem. I have not considered the underlying matters Mr X complained to the Council about. Once the Council has finished dealing with Mr X’s complaint he can come back to us if he is not satisfied with the result or still believes the Council made mistakes when handling it.

Back to top

Agreed action

10. To its credit the Council agreed to resolve the complaint by taking the steps in paragraph 8.

Back to top

Final decision

11. We have upheld this part of Mr X’s complaint because the Council has agreed to resolve it early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mr X.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman