Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in the Council’s administration of the statutory children’s complaint procedure. This is because the Council has agreed to take action to remedy any injustice caused to Miss X.

The complaint

1. Miss X complains the Councils stage two response to her complaint was late. Miss X says the remedy offered by the Council is not in accordance with Ombudsman guidance and wants it to be reconsidered.
2. Miss X says the delay caused distress, uncertainty and time and trouble. Miss X says this prevented her escalating her complaint to Stage 3.

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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 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)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. This assessment only considers delay in administering the complaints process and not the matters complained about.
7. Miss X escalated her complaint to stage two of the statutory children’s complaint process in June 2025. The Council should have provided Miss X a response within 65 working days, which fell in September 2025.
8. Miss X received the stage two response in July 2026.
9. We invited the Council to remedy any injustice caused to Miss X. Within its response, it offered Miss X a payment of £300 for distress caused by delay. Miss X has yet to return details for payment to the Council. We proposed an additional remedy for Miss X and to its credit, the Council has agreed to it.

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Agreed actions

• Pay its proposed £300 payment to Miss X.
• Make an additional payment of £200 to Miss X for distress caused by delay.

This brings the total proposed remedy to £500. This is made up of £300 proposed by the Council in its stage two adjudication and a further £200 recommended by us.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld this complaint about delay in the children’s statutory procedure but will not investigate it further. This is because the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman