Summary: We will not investigate this complaint, about the Council’s failure to complete a remedy agreed during a previous investigation. This is because we are satisfied the Council completed the remedy as it was agreed, and any complaint about ongoing matters must be made afresh.

The complaint

1. I will refer to the complainants as Mrs D.
2. Mrs D complains the Council has not implemented catch-up social care provision, agreed during a previous investigation, despite the target date for it to do so having passed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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 34H(i), as amended)
4. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint unless we are satisfied the organisation knows about the complaint and has had an opportunity to investigate and reply. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to notify the organisation of the complaint and give it an opportunity to investigate and reply. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(5), section 34(B)6)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I reviewed our previous decision (23 000 028) and the evidence the Council provided to show it had completed the agreed remedy.

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What I found

6. Mrs D’s previous complaint to the Ombudsman concerned, among other points, a failure by the Council to secure social care provision for her disabled son, as it had agreed to do. We upheld this complaint in November 2023, and recommended the Council “make arrangements to deliver all the social care support [Mrs D’s son] missed between April and October 2023, in addition to the support he will be receiving anyway”. We asked the Council to comply with this remedy within six weeks of the date of our decision.
7. There was some delay in the Council’s compliance, but in February 2024, it provided evidence to show it had made the agreed arrangements, including a schedule setting out how the additional hours would be provided. We therefore wrote to the Council confirming we were now satisfied it had completed the remedy. This ended our involvement in Mrs D’s complaint.
8. Shortly after this, Mrs D registered a new complaint with us, saying the Council had not implemented the catch-up provision within six weeks, as it had agreed to do.

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Analysis

9. Mrs D’s complaint is based on a misunderstanding of the remedy we agreed with the Council in November 2023. We did not recommend the Council implement the catch-up social care provision within six weeks – we recommended only that it make arrangements within six weeks to implement the catch-up provision. This is clearly noted in our decision statement.
10. We then received evidence from the Council to show it made the requisite arrangements. At this point, as the Council had completed the agreed remedy, our involvement in Mrs D’s complaint came to an end.
11. Mrs D complains the Council still has not implemented all the agreed hours, and asks how long the Ombudsman considers it should have to do this. However, it is not for us to make operational decisions on the Council’s behalf, and given there are 56 hours of catch-up provision to implement (alongside the ongoing provision) this is clearly likely to take some time.
12. Either way, we accepted Mrs D’s current complaint without requiring her to first make a complaint to the Council. This was on the basis the Council had failed to implement an agreed remedy, as Mrs D alleged, which is one reason we may disapply the requirement to complain to a council first. Upon review, however, I am satisfied – for the reasons set out – this is not accurate, and that Mrs D’s complaint is about a new matter, the length of time it is taking the Council to implement agreed provision.
13. As this covers different ground from our previous investigation, and was not the remedy we agreed with the Council, this means we must require Mrs D to complain formally to the Council about it first.

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Final decision

14. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman