Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about a Children Act complaints’ procedure process. There is not enough direct personal injustice to warrant an investigation.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council is not providing her with enough time to give evidence to a complaints’ review panel and evidence the Council has provided is inaccurate.

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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 effect 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 an investigation if we decide the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Miss X complained to the Council about its children services’ actions. It considered her complaint within its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure.
6. 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.
7. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
8. 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.
9. If a complainant is unhappy with the result 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.
10. The Council completed stage two. Miss X sought stage three but asked for it to be delayed. She says she put in a ‘subject access request’ which has produced many relevant documents she wants to properly consider and give to the stage three review panel. The Council has asked they are submitted longer before the review panel than normal. It says this is because of the amount of information which it believes the review panel needs time to consider properly before it meets. Miss X believes this is unfair on her.

Analysis

11. Our role is to consider if Miss X has been caused any direct injustice because of any Council fault. Here Miss X’s alleged injustice, the review panel not having her full comments, and reaching a poor decision because of it, is speculative.
12. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to complete the complaint process. If she is unhappy with the result, she can return to us about that, and any faults in the process which may have affected the review panel’s decision.

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Final decision

13. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because there is insufficient direct personal injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman