The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: I uphold this complaint because the Council was at fault in failing to respond reasonably to the complainant’s request for the provision of post-adoption information for her children. The Council has agreed to resolve the matter by providing a suitable remedy
The complaint
The complainant, who I will refer to as Ms B, complains that the Council has failed to provide life story books and later in life letters for her children and has failed to respond reasonably to her requests that it do so.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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) Under our information sharing agreement, we will share the final decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
If we were to investigate this complaint, it is likely we would find fault causing injustice. This is because the evidence I have seen indicates that the Council has failed to respond reasonably to Ms B’s representations or her subsequent complaint, thereby denying her the opportunity to resolve the matter through the statutory complaints procedure for complaints about children’s services.
Agreed action
In response to the Ombudsman’s request that it take steps to resolve the complaint, the Council has offered to: offer Ms B a meeting with a Children’s Services manager to discuss what information can, or cannot, be provided.
make a written apology to Ms B for the lack of clarity in its responses; and offer to make a payment of £300 to Ms B in recognition of the time and trouble she has been put to in chasing the information.
I find this to be a reasonable basis on which to resolve the complaint and recommend that the actions be carried out within one month. If Ms B is unhappy with the result of the meeting with the manager, she may wish to make a new complaint.
Final decision
We have upheld this complaint. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint by providing a proportionate remedy to the injustice caused to Ms B.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman