Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council carried out a child and family assessment. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault in how the Council considered the complaint under the statutory complaint’s procedure.

The complaint

1. Mr X and Mrs Z complain about how the Council carried out a child and family assessment concerning Mrs Z’s child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
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. 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.
7. Following the investigation, a senior manager (the adjudicating officer) at the council should carry out an adjudication. The officer considers the IO report and any report from the IP. They decide what the council’s response to the complaint will be, including what action it will take. The adjudicating officer should then write to the complainant with a copy of the investigation report, any report from the independent person and the adjudication response.
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. If a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it unless we consider the investigation was flawed. However, we may look at whether a council properly considered the findings and recommendations of the independent investigation.

Assessment

10. The Council considered Mr X and Mrs Z’s complaint at stages one and two of the statutory complaint’s procedure. At stage two the complaint was largely upheld with several recommendations made. The Council accepted the findings of the stage two investigation.
11. Mr X and Mrs Z told the Council that whilst they accepted the findings in the report, they were not satisfied with the actions taken by the Council in response to the findings. We agreed to exercise discretion in this case and consider it as an early referral without completing the statutory complaints procedure because the complaint is largely upheld, and any remaining dispute concerns the remedy provided by the Council.
12. I will not investigate Mr X and Mrs Z’s complaint. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council. The complaint documents indicate that the matter has been properly investigated under the statutory procedure. The reports address all Mr X and Mrs Z’s concerns in detail and make proportionate and appropriate recommendations. The Council has an action plan in place to meet the agreed actions. As the complaints have already been thoroughly investigated it is unlikely an investigation by the Ombudsman could add to this.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because there is insufficient evidence of fault by the Council, and we could not add to the Council’s investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman