Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children services’ actions. It is reasonable to expect her to request a Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure stage two escalation when she is unhappy with the Council’s complaint responses.

The complaint

1. Miss X says the Council has failed to support her child, B, and has failed to deal with her fairly.

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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 it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (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 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 in February 2024 about the support it had provided her family. She said it was not good enough. She also complained about its attitude towards her. She said she felt Council officers had blamed her.
6. The Council replied in May 2024. It said if she wanted to pursue her complaint further she could contact the complaints team to arrange a meeting. The Council says she did not do this. It says it has received two similar complains since, but they also relate to newer events. The Council has confirmed its May 2024 reply was at stage one of its Children Act statutory complaints’ procedure.
7. 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.
8. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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. It is reasonable to expect Miss X to request a stage two when she is unhappy with the responses she is getting to her complaints.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because it is reasonable to expect her to request a stage two reply to complaints she is unhappy with.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman