Kent County Council
Complaint overview
Between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025, we dealt with 291 complaints. Of these, 87 were not for us or not ready for us to investigate. We assessed and closed 128 complaints. We investigated 76 complaints.
More about this data
Complaints dealt with – the total number of complaints and enquiries considered. It is not appropriate to investigate all of them.
Not for us – includes complaints brought to us before the council was given chance to consider it, or the complainant came to the wrong Ombudsman.
Assessed and closed – includes complaints where the law says we’re not allowed to investigate, or it would be a poor use of public funds if we did.
Investigated – we completed an investigation and made a decision on whether we found fault, or no fault.
Complaints upheld – we completed an investigation and found evidence of fault, or the organisation provided a suitable remedy early on.
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council – the council upheld the complaint and we agreed with how it offered to put things right.
Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations – not complying with our recommendations is rare. A council with a compliance rate below 100% should scrutinise the complaints where it failed to comply and identify any learning.
Average performance rates – we compare the annual statistics of similar types of councils to work out an average level of performance. We do this for County Councils, District Councils, Metropolitan Boroughs, Unitary Councils, and London Boroughs.
For more information on understanding our statistics see Interpreting our complaints data.
Complaints dealt with
Not for us
Assessed and closed
Investigated
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Complaints upheld
We investigated 76 complaints and upheld 63.
83% of complaints we investigated were upheld.
This compares to an average of 89% in similar authorities.
View upheld decisionsAdjusted for Kent County Council's population, this is 3.9% upheld decisions per 100,000 residents.
The average for authorities of this type is
5.3% upheld decisions per 100,000 residents. -
Satisfactory remedies provided by the Council
In 4 out of 63 upheld cases we found the Council had provided a satisfactory remedy before the complaint reached the Ombudsman.
6% satisfactory remedy rate.
This compares to an average of 10% in similar authorities.
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Compliance with Ombudsman recommendations
We recorded compliance outcomes in 64 cases.
In 63 cases we were satisfied with the actions taken.98% compliance rate with recommendations.
This compares to an average of 100% in similar authorities.
Annual letters
We write to councils each year to give a summary of the complaint statistics we record about them,
and their performance in responding to our investigations.
Reports
The Ombudsman has published the following reports against Kent County Council
Find out more about reports
We issue reports on certain investigations, particularly where there is a wider public interest to do so. Common reasons for reports are significant injustice, systemic issues, major learning points and non-compliance with our recommendations. Issuing reports is one way we help to ensure councils are accountable to local people and highlighting the learning from complaints helps to improve services for everybody. Reports are published for 10 years.
Ombudsman investigation reveals 170 delayed complaints in Kent
A Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation has uncovered a backlog of 170 unanswered children’s services and education complaints in Kent.
Kent couple lost valuable time together because of council errors
A Kent couple lost valuable time together after the council placed one partner in a care home against her wishes following a hospital stay, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has found.
Councils urged to learn from Ombudsman investigation into child abuse complaint
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is urging councils to place children at the centre of decision making in cross border child protection cases, after a suicidal teenager was left without appropriate support when she reported serious sexual abuse.
Councils urged to check their parking policies following Ombudsman investigation
Councils across England are being urged to ensure they are using the correct legislation to issue parking fines at country parks following a Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation into Kent County Council.
Parents need to be supported to balance care and work needs, Ombudsman says
Parents of children with disabilities should be supported to balance their care and working needs, the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) has said.
Service improvements
The Council has agreed to make the following improvements to its services following an Ombudsman investigation.
Find out more about service improvements
When we find fault, we can recommend improvements to systems and processes where they haven’t worked properly, so that others do not suffer from these same problems in future. Common examples are policy changes; procedural reviews; and staff training. Service improvements from decisions are published for 5 years and those from reports are published for 10 years.
The latest 10 cases are listed below – click ‘view all’ to find all service improvements.
Case reference: 24 006 616
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- The Council agreed to review its process for referring people for a financial assessment. It should ensure, whenever possible, that people have the necessary information about the contribution they will be expected to pay towards their care before they need to make decisions about the care they want.
- The Council agreed to provide a briefing to its financial assessment staff and practitioners about how the Council should consider allowances for costs to people of their disregarded properties. This should include the relevant rules, guidance and Council policy.
Case reference: 24 006 374
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council will review its procedures around the processing of Personal Transport Budget (PTB) change of circumstance requests to ensure requests are dealt with within 28 days as outlined in its PTB policy.
- Reviewits procedures to ensure that where there is a change of circumstances that itconsiders, at the time, whether this results in an underpayment or overpaymentof the Personal Transport Budget Itshould then notify the parent/carer of this in a timely manner.
- The Council will remind its complaint handlers to ensure all the main areas of a complaint are responded to and to respond to complaints in a timely manner.
Case reference: 24 004 875
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Other
- The Council has agreed to provide evidence of the steps taken to:•ensure direct payments are not held up due to discussions over which service is involved with a service user; and •ensure the reasons for decisions about which service a child will be under are fully explained to parents in good time.
Case reference: 24 004 481
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council has agreed to remind relevant staff of the guidance which states within four weeks of a review meeting, the Council must notify the child’s parent of its decision to maintain, amend or discontinue the EHC Plan.
- The Council has agreed to, by training or otherwise, remind staff of the importance of adhering to the Council’s complaints procedure; andprovide training or guidance to all relevant staff on the Council’s duties when a child is unable to attend school.
Case reference: 24 004 188
Category: Adult care services
Sub Category: Charging
- The Council will remind relevant officers and managers of the need to act promptly in fulfilling a remedy it has already agreed with a complainant. This will help to ensure that matters are quickly brought to a close and lessen the likelihood of further distress and inconvenience to the complainant.
Case reference: 24 004 142
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council agreed to produce and circulate a briefing to its special educational needs and education staff, and relevant elected members, of the Council’s duties to arrange alternative education under section 19 of the Education Act 1996. This should include, but not be limited to, the Council’s legal responsibilities, its expectations for staff when concerns are raised that a child or young person is not accessing the education otherwise available to them and Ombudsman’s 'Out of school, out of sight' focus report.
Case reference: 24 003 150
Category: Children's care services
Sub Category: Child protection
- Remind relevant staff via training, or a briefing paper, of the statutory guidance Getting the best from Complaints as well as drawing their attention to the Ombudsman's practitioner's guidance.
Case reference: 24 001 526
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council agree to remind staff in its special educational needs team about the importance of:complying with the statutory timescales following a review of an EHC plan;promptly taking action to secure the provision in EHC plans when it knows this is no longer being provided; andproperly considering and recording their decisions about whether the Council needs to make alternative education provision for children who are not attending school.
Case reference: 24 001 423
Category: Education
Sub Category: Special educational needs
- The Council should produce and circulate a briefing note to relevant staff to remind them that it is not possible to make changes to the provision of a child who has an Education Health and Care Plan without issuing a revised plan and an amendment notice to enable the child or young person’s parents to comment. This is in line with the process for amending a plan set out in the SEN Code paragraphs 9.193 to 9.198.
Case reference: 24 001 417
Category: Education
Sub Category: Alternative provision
- The Council agreed remind staff of the existence of the Council’s policy on managing unacceptable behaviour from members of the public and the importance of following that policy when imposing contact restrictions.
Last updated: 4 April 2015