Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to follow the Children Act complaints’ procedure. It has now agreed to do so.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, says the Council failed to properly reply to her children services’ complaint.

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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 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 a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council’s comments.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

The statutory complaints’ procedure

5. 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.
6. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
7. 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 investigator and an independent person who is responsible for overseeing the investigation. Councils have up to 13 weeks to complete stage two of the process from the date of request.
8. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel. The Council must hold the panel within 30 days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 days of the panel hearing.
9. Mrs X complained in April 2023 about Children Services handling of a child in need plan. She is yet to receive a reply.
10. If we were to investigate it is likely we would find fault causing the complainant injustice because this is a Children Act statutory complaint and the Regulations say the stage one reply was due by mid May 2023. It is now over three months late.

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Agreed action

11. The Council has agreed to:
• Provide a stage one reply within 20 working days of this final decision setting out Mrs X’s rights under the procedure.

• Pay Mrs X £75 for the delays in the procedure so far.

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Final decision

12. I uphold this complaint as the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Mrs X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman