Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council failing to investigate her complaint fully under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. This is because an investigation would not lead to any further findings or outcomes.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complains the Council failed to investigate her complaint fully. She says the independent officer confused access to short break services and respite and failed to investigate the transparency of the threshold criteria for the children with disabilities team.

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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 an investigation if we decide:
• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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

3. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Mrs X complained that the threshold criteria for disabled children had not been lawfully applied as it was not transparent who was eligible for the children with disabilities (CWD) team and because short breaks were only accessible through the CWD team. She also completed the child and family assessment (CAFA) completed in December 2022 was flawed.
7. The Children Act 1989 sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. We call this the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The children’s statutory complaints procedure exists to provide children, young people and those acting on their behalf a way to receive a thorough, prompt, and independent response to their concerns. The Council investigated Mrs X’s complaints under this procedure.
8. If a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate the substantive complaints unless we consider the investigation was flawed. This also means the findings made under the statutory process cannot be overturned and will remain.
9. In this case, having reviewed the stage 2 independent persons report, and the stage 3 review panel findings, I am satisfied there is no evidence to suggest the investigations were flawed. Therefore, an investigation is not justified as it would not lead to any further outcomes. This is because the Council has already made appropriate recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the faults identified.
10. Further, I note Mrs X has received the outcome she was looking for, which was for her children to be managed under the CWD team. The Council also agreed for a new CAFA to be completed, which is an appropriate remedy to address Mrs X’s concerns about the CAFA completed in December 2022 being flawed.
11. I acknowledge Mrs X considered the investigation did not investigate her complaints properly. However, I note the independent investigator had met with Mrs X to discuss the complaints to be investigated, which were later agreed by Mrs X. If Mrs X was unhappy with the complaint summary, she should have raised her concerns with the independent investigator at the time.

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Final decision

12. We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because an investigation would not lead to any further findings or outcomes.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman