Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his complaint about his son, Y’s, care. He complained the Council has not considered the complaint after a long delay. Mr X said Y has not received the enabling support specified in his Education, Health and Care Plan. There was fault in the way the Council did not complete the statutory children’s complaint procedure and delayed communicating this. The Council has not considered the complaint and Mr X was put to time and trouble to complain. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a financial payment and progress the children’s statutory complaint process.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained about the Council’s handling of his complaint about his son, Y’s, care. He complained the Council has not considered the complaint after a long delay. Mr X said Y has not received the enabling support specified in his Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with a Council’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. Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have investigated Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to respond to the complaint about enabling support.
6. I have not investigated Mr X’s substantive complaints. This is because the statutory children’s complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough and prompt response to their concerns. This independence is not available to complaints put through the corporate complaints procedure. Because of this, we expect people to complete the complaints procedure before we will consider whether there were any flaws in how the Council investigated their concerns.

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How I considered this complaint

7. I read Mr X’s complaint and spoke to him about it on the phone.
8. I considered information provided by Mr X and the Council.
9. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Background information

10. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 says councils must safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.
11. A child is in need if:

• they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development unless the council provides support;
• their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired unless the council provides support; or
• they are disabled.

12. 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. We also published practitioner guidance on the procedures, setting out our expectations.
13. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
14. 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 investigating officer (IO) to look into the complaint and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring its independence.
15. 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.
16. The whole stage two process should be completed within 25 working days but guidance allows an extension for up to 65 working days where required.
17. 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 working days of the date of request, and then issue a final response within 20 working days of the panel hearing.
18. The Ombudsman would normally expect a council and complainant to follow the full complaints procedure. The guidance sets out the circumstances in which a complaint can be referred to the Ombudsman without completing all three stages. This can only happen when the stage two investigation is robust with all, or all significant complaints upheld. Councils must show they agree to meet most of the complainant’s desired outcomes and have a clear action plan for delivery.
19. In February 2022 the Ombudsman issued practitioner guidance on the Children’s statutory complaints process.

What happened

20. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that has occurred in this case.
21. Y has complex additional needs. His package of care including respite provision and enabling support. Mr X put in two separate complaints. This complaint is about the Council failing to provide the enabling support, specified in Y’s EHC Plan. Mr X complained to the Council in November 2022.
22. The Council delayed completing Mr X’s other complaint. The Council said it would not consider this complaint until it had completed the first investigation.
23. The Council completed the first complaint process in August 2024. The Council then wrote to Mr X to apologise for the delays. It said there was several overlaps with the first complaint. The Council said it had already considered this case in the first complaint.
24. Mr X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and has asked the Ombudsman to investigate. Mr X would like the Council to investigate the complaint.

My findings

25. The children’s statutory complaints procedure is a statutory procedure the Council has to follow. Where a council has investigated a complaint under the statutory children’s complaint process, we would not normally re-investigate it unless we consider the investigation was flawed.
26. The Council declined to consider this complaint, saying it had considered the concerns in Mr X’s other complaint. This complaint is about a different service for Y. This had a different impact on him and it was removed for a different reason. This complaint is separable from the first complaint. The Council should have considered this complaint under the children’s statutory complaint procedure. Not doing this, is fault.
27. Mr X complained in November 2022. The Council did not respond until August 2024. This delay is fault. Mr X was put to time and trouble to complain.

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Agreed action

28. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Mr X by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Mr X for the fault identified in this case. This apology should be in accordance with the Ombudsman’s new guidance Making an effective apology.
• Pay Mr X £200 as an acknowledgement of the time and trouble he has spent pursuing this complaint.
• Progress with the investigation of this complaint from stage two of the statutory complaint process.
29. The Council should provide evidence of the actions taken to satisfy the recommendations.

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Final decision

30. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault by the Council, which caused injustice to Mr X.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman