The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s proposal to amend a Special Guardianship Allowance. It is unlikely we could achieve a significantly different remedy.
The complaint
The complainant, whom I shall call Mrs X, says the Council did not follow procedures when it decided to reduce her Special Guardianship Allowance.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect 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 the tests set out in our Assessment Code are not met. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended) We do not start or continue 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, or it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Mrs X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X says that a Court made a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) in 2010 for a child B. She says the Council offered £180 per week SGO allowance. She says it did not say it was subject to review.
In October 2021, Mrs X completed a financial review form at the Council’s request. She says she had seven day’s notice in December 2021 the Council would reduce the allowance to under £8 per week. She complained.
In reply to her complaint, at stage one in February 2022 and stage two in May 2022, the Council accepted that it should have given her more notice of its intention to reduce her allowance, and, given her a reasonable opportunity to make comments. It accepts it should have considered those comments before any final decision. It agreed to give Mrs X a further 28 days and allow the allowance to cover that period.
It is unlikely our investigation could achieve a significantly different remedy than the Council offered at stage two in May 2022.
The Council should have replied within the Council’s Children Act complaints procedure. But as it has reasonably remedied the complaint, we cannot justify us pursuing it not doing so.
Once the Council has considered any comments Mrs X makes following the May 2022 letter, and decides to change her allowance, it is open to Mrs X to complain about that consideration and calculation. We would expect that complaint to be within the Children Act statutory complaints procedure.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint because it is unlikely we could achieve a significantly different remedy.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman