Summary: Mrs E complained the Council failed to help and support her family appropriately through the Child in Need process. The Council did not investigate this under the statutory children’s complaints process and is asked to do so now. It has agreed to make a payment to acknowledge the time and trouble caused to Mrs E.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs E, said she had concerns with how the Council was supporting her family through the child in need process. She did not feel the Council had taken her concerns seriously enough because it had not investigated through the statutory children’s complaints process.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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.
4. 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)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I considered the information Mrs E provided with her complaint and spoke to her on the telephone. I have considered ‘Getting the best from complaints’ (2006) and ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2018). I sent Mrs E and the Council a copy of my draft decision and took their comments into account before issuing a decision.

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What I found

6. According to ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ (2018), which is the relevant statutory guidance supporting the Children Act (1989), a child is ‘in need’ if they are considered ‘unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable level of health or development, or whose health and development is likely to be significantly or further impaired, without the provision of services; or a child who is disabled’.
7. Once a Council identifies a child is in need, it then has a duty to provide appropriate services. ‘Working Together’ goes on to say; ‘Any provision identified as being necessary…should, if the local authority decides to provide such services, be provided without delay. A good assessment will monitor and record the impact of any services delivered to the child and family and review the help being delivered. Whilst services may be delivered to a parent or carer, the assessment should be focused on the needs of the child and on the impact any services are having on the child’.
8. Mrs E complained to the Council, in October 2019, about the services that had been offered to her and her family. This included social workers failing to support her children appropriately, failing to advise the school to take certain measures and failing to refer her husband to necessary courses and services in a timely way.
9. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services, such as the support offered to families under the Child in Need process. This is detailed in ‘Getting the best from complaints’ (2006). At stage 2 of this procedure, the Council should appoint an Investigating Officer and an Independent Person (who is responsible for overseeing the investigation). If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage 2 investigation, they can ask for a stage 3 review and may then come to us.
10. The Council has not investigated Mrs E’s complaints under the statutory procedure. This is fault because the law sets out that it is not a matter of choice – the Council has to do this and should now do so. The Council’s failure has caused Mrs E time and trouble as she has had to come to us to get the Council to respond to her complaints appropriately. The Council has agreed to conduct a statutory stage two investigation into her complaint, to apologise and to make a payment to her of £100 to acknowledge her time and trouble.

Agreed action

11. The Council will carry out a statutory Stage Two investigation into the complaints raised by Mrs E without any undue delay. It should engage an Investigating Officer and Independent Person within a month of the date of my decision.
12. The Council will apologise and make a token payment of £100 to Mrs E for the time and trouble she has been caused by the Council’s delay and in having to come to us. It will do so within a month of the date of my decision.
13. For the Council to ensure it follows ‘Getting the best from complaints’ (2006) and conducts statutory investigations on complaints falling under that procedure. The Council should tell me the actions it will take to ensure this happens going forward within three months of the date of my decision.

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Final decision

14. I found evidence of fault leading to injustice and the Council has agreed to provide a remedy.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman