Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to escalate a complaint she made about safeguarding enquiries it initiated for her daughter Y and did not offer Y suitable alternative education when she had to leave school due to illness. Mrs X also complained the Council sent social workers to visit her home in pairs despite her advising this would negatively affect Y. She said this situation caused her and her family stress and upset. The Council acted with fault when it failed to carry out the Stage 2 investigation within statutory timescales. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs X to address the frustration she experienced because of this.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council would not escalate her complaint after she complained about safeguarding proceedings it instigated for her child, Y.
2. Mrs X said the Council failed to ensure Y’s school was meeting her needs and has not provided suitable alternative education for Y after she left school for health reasons.
3. Mrs X also complained the Council sent social workers to her home in pairs despite agreeing it would only send one at a time.
4. Mrs X said this situation has caused her and Y stress and upset.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

5. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
6. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
7. 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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How I considered this complaint

8. I contacted Mrs X and discussed her view of the complaint.
9. I made enquiries of the Council and considered the information it provided which included complaint correspondence shared between Mrs X and the Council and the Stage 2 report.
10. I wrote to Mrs X and the Council with my final decision before I made the final decision.

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What I found

Law and statutory guidance

11. The Children Act 1989 requires local authorities to investigate if there is reasonable cause to suspect a child in their area is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm. They must decide whether to take action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare.
12. Social workers have a statutory duty to lead assessments and carry out enquiries in a way which minimises distress for the child and family. The social worker may interview the child’s parents and gather information about the child and their family history to determine the level of risk the child is likely to face if they remain in their environment.

Child Protection Plan

13. A Child Protection Plan is a plan drawn up by the Council. It sets out how the child can be kept safe and what support they will need.
14. The parents of the child should be told the reason for the plan and what they can do to ensure the child is kept protected.

Alternative Education

15. Section 19 of the Education Act 1996 says that if a child of compulsory school age cannot attend school for reasons of illness, exclusion from school or otherwise, the local authority must arrange “suitable education” either at school or elsewhere - at home, for example. The education to be arranged by the local authority should be on a full-time basis, unless, in the interests of the child, part-time education is more suitable. This would be for reasons relating to the child’s physical or mental health.
16. Full-time is not defined in law but should equate to what a pupil would receive in school. If they receive one to one tutoring for example, the hours of face-to-face provision could be fewer as the provision is more concentrated.
17. Local authorities need to ensure children with health problems are not without education for more than 15 working days. So, if a child cannot attend school because of a health problem, after 15 days the council must intervene and provide suitable education for a minimum of five hours a week.
18. The teaching must be of a similar quality to that which the child would receive in school, based on a broad and balanced curriculum. Where a local authority contracts out the service, it remains accountable for the quality of education. Local authorities must also regularly review what is being offered and adjust the number of teaching hours if necessary.

Statutory children’s complaints procedure

19. There is a formal procedure, set out in law, which the Council must follow to investigate certain complaints about children’s services. This procedure applies to complaints made by parents of these children, who can complain about the councils’ actions in relation to them.
20. The procedure involves three stages:
• Stage one - local resolution by the Council. This stage takes between ten and twenty working days.
• Stage two - an investigation by an independent investigator who will prepare a detailed report and findings to which the council must respond. The independent investigator does not line manage anyone involved in the complaint. If a complainant is still dissatisfied after stage two, they have the right to ask for their complaint to be considered at stage three. A stage two investigation for a complex case should take no more than 65 working days.
• Stage three - consideration by an independent review panel which may make further recommendations. A review panel should begin within 30 working days of the request.
21. If a council has investigated something under this procedure, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it unless he considers that investigation was flawed. However, he may look at whether a council properly considered the findings and recommendations of the independent investigation.

What happened

22. Mrs X has a young secondary aged daughter, Y. Y has autism and various complex needs.
23. The Council enforced a Child Protection Plan for Y in February 2019 due to concerns Mrs X was obstructing Y from attending school and isolating her. The plan’s overall focus was to help Y return to school and stated social workers must visit every 10 working days to check on her development and progress.
24. Notes taken by social workers who visited Y in March and April 2019 describe Y appearing to spend large amounts of time in bed and Mrs X being resistant to engaging with social workers. The social workers visited Y several times to help Y slowly transition back to school.
25. In May 2019, Y’s GP signed her off from school permanently because she was suffering with anxiety. Y began receiving 1:1 tuition three days a week for 90 minutes per session. The Council held several meetings with educational and medical professionals discussing Y’s emotional and mental wellbeing and how to facilitate Y’s return to school. A social worker also visited Y to discuss how to reduce her anxiety around returning to school.
26. In June 2019, Mrs X sent the Council a complaint containing 20 issues. Amongst other things Mrs X said Y’s school initially told her it could not meet Y’s needs before changing its mind and the Council failed to question this. She also said the Council ignored her requests for alternative education for Y.
27. The Council responded to Mrs X’s complaint at Stage 1 of its complaints process stating the school clarified several times it could meet Y’s needs, but Mrs X needed to allow and trust the school to do so. The Council acknowledged Mrs X’s unhappiness with Y’s schooling but said it made Y a suitable offer of alternative education and followed recommendations set by educational and medical professionals in making this offer.
28. In July 2019, the Council spoke to several residential schools in the area to discuss their ability to take Y on. The Council also contacted other facilities to see if they could provide tutoring and support with Y’s autism. The Council consulted with Y’s school to put together a package of medical tuition.
29. In late August 2019, two social workers visited Y. Y was observed to be in a good mood and there were no safeguarding issues raised although it was noted she was still not attending school.
30. In September 2019, Mrs X submitted a 9-page complaint to the Council raising 55 issues. Along with other complaints, Mrs X said the number of social workers allocated to carry out child protection visits was unnecessary and upsetting Y. She said the Council failed to adequately respond to her Stage 1 complaint or follow up questions. She again asked the Council to explain why it had not offered alternative education. She asked the Council to provide compensation for the stress and upset she had experienced because of its actions. The Council began a Stage 2 investigation into Mrs X’s complaint points.
31. At this time, professionals responsible for delivering Y’s medical tuition noted that Y was not engaging with the sessions and unwilling to participate in any education. They also expressed concern that Y would not be able to keep up if she returned to school fulltime.
32. In mid-September 2019, Mrs X told two social workers who came to visit Y that she was unhappy the Council was still sending two social workers. The social workers noted that Y was in bed and they were unable to properly observe or communicate with her.
33. In October and November 2019, social workers noted Y was still not engaging with the tuition offered. It was also noted that Mrs X was refusing to allow social workers into her home and would only bring Y to the front door for a short period. The notes stated “when arriving Mrs X portrayed her frustration that there were two workers voicing that she had an issue with two people visiting and that she will not allow two people into the family home…she added that this was nothing to do with myself as she liked us.”
34. In January 2020, Mrs X approached the Ombudsman to complain about the Stage 2 investigation. We advised her to allow the Council to complete its investigation.
35. The Investigation Officer (IO) responded to Mrs X in April 2020 upholding 20 of the 59 complaint points Mrs X raised.
36. The IO acknowledged the relationship between Mrs X and the Council had broken down. The IO found that Y’s school was supportive of Y’s return to full time education, but this had not happened because her GP advised Y could not cope with education due to her anxiety. The IO noted the Council sent social workers in pairs to carry out child protection visits because Mrs X had a history of making allegations against social workers. The IO did not uphold Mrs X’s complaint regarding the Stage 1 investigation but said the Council should have been clearer in stating which of Mrs X’s complaints it was upholding.
37. The IO made several recommendations, including asking the child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) to consider whether sending social workers to Mrs X’s home in pairs could be having an adverse effect on Y. The adjudication letter agreed with this recommendation.
38. Mrs X was unhappy with the findings of the Stage 2 investigation and complained again to the Council. She said the IO failed to include all evidence and did not address all complaint points. She referred her complaint to the Ombudsman and asked the Council to escalate the complaint to stage 3. The Council told Mrs X it would not escalate the complaint because she had referred the complaint to the Ombudsman. The Council told her to allow the Ombudsman to investigate the complaint.
39. A Child Protection Conference was held on 23 September 2020. The conference was attended by Mrs X, a social worker, and professionals from the Council’s education services department.
40. During the investigation, the Council confirmed it was overwhelmed by receiving frequent contact from Mrs X and she was taking up a disproportionate amount of its time. The Council also expressed concern that Mrs X spends large amounts of time emailing and calling the Council and this is informing its decision to continue with safeguarding proceedings as it is possible Y is being disadvantaged by this.

Findings

Mrs X’s escalation request

41. Mrs X is unhappy the Council would not escalate her Stage 2 complaint to Stage 3 of the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council advised Mrs X to allow the Ombudsman to investigate. The Council has a statutory duty to escalate a Stage 2 complaint to Stage 3 panel if it receives an escalation request. However, having reviewed the evidence, it appears Mrs X brought the complaint to the Ombudsman before the Council had an opportunity to respond to her escalation request. I therefore stop short of calling the Council’s actions fault.
    Mrs X is entitled to ask the Council to escalate her complaint following the Ombudsman’s involvement and I would expect the Council to comply.
42. The Council is required by law to complete the Stage 2 investigation within 65 working days. The Council completed the investigation in 135 working days and did not meet this requirement. Whilst I can appreciate this was a lengthy complaint, the Council agreed to carry out the Stage 2 investigation and it therefore should have kept to the statutory timescales. Its failure to do so is fault. This delay likely caused Mrs X frustration.

Alternative education

43. Mrs X has repeatedly said that the alternative education Y received was unsuitable, but she has not clarified why she believes this. The law says that if a child cannot attend school due to illness, it must provide suitable education for the child. The evidence shows the Council consulted various educational professionals and arranged medical tuition for Y within a timely manner. The Council has continued to review Y’s progress and contacted other facilities to find a suitable full-time placement for Y. The Council has repeatedly noted Y is not engaging with the tuition she is receiving and so I cannot see that increasing her tuition, would be effective. The evidence shows the Council has acted appropriately. There is no fault with the Council’s actions.

Social worker visits

44. Mrs X has complained the Council has sent social workers in pairs to carry out visits. The Council investigated this complaint point at Stage 2 and the IO recommended that CAMHS consider whether sending social workers in pairs could be having an adverse reaction on Y. I have not seen evidence indicating CAMHS advised the Council to stop sending social workers in pairs. I have not seen evidence in the notes recorded during the child protection visits that indicates Y was affected negatively by the Council sending two social workers to Mrs X’s home. I cannot say the Council has acted with fault in relation to this part of the complaint.

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Agreed Actions

45. Within one month of the date of the final decision, the Council has agreed to pay Mrs X £200 to acknowledge the frustration she experienced due to the Council’s delay.

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Final decision

46. There was fault in the Council’s actions when it failed to carry out the Stage 2 investigation within the required timescales. I have recommended the Council pay Mrs X a financial award in recognition of this. I have therefore completed the investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman