Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about delay in the Council responding to his complaint under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. This is because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains the Council has delayed in responding to his complaint under the statutory children’s complaint procedure.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. If we were to investigate, it is likely we would find fault causing Mr X injustice. This is because the Council has not responded to Mr X’s stage two complaint within the required statutory timescales.
6. It appears Mr X requested his complaint be escalated to stage two in July 2024. The Council has up to 65 working days to investigate and complete stage two. This means the adjudication response should have been issued by October 2024.
7. To date, the Council has not issued the stage two response. This is a delay of just over four months. I am satisfied the ongoing delay will be causing Mr X frustration.
8. We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by completing the following:
• Apologise to Mr X for the delay in responding to his stage two complaint.
• Complete stage two by issuing the independent investigator and person reports and the Council’s adjudication response within two weeks of the final decision.
• Within four weeks of the final decision, make a payment of £50 a month to recognise the frustration caused by the delay. A total of £200.

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Agreed action

9. The Council agreed to resolve the complaint and will complete the above within the timescales agreed.

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Final decision

10. We have upheld this complaint because the Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman