The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We have upheld Miss X’s complaint because the Council failed to consider her complaint under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X.
The complaint
Miss X complained the Council’s children’s services team should have treated her as a child in care at the time of its involvement.
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 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) Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Miss X complained to the Council that she was made a child in need when she should have been classed as a child in care. The Council responded in November 2024 through its corporate complaints process.
If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find the Council at fault, because the Council did not investigate this complaint through the children’s statutory complaint process.
We therefore asked the Council to consider remedying the injustice caused by its actions, by progressing the complaint to stage two of the statutory complaints process. We also asked the Council to apologise to Miss X for not doing so sooner. To its credit the Council agreed to our proposal.
Final decision
We have upheld this complaint because the Council failed to consider a complaint under the statutory children’s complaints procedure. To its credit, the Council has agreed to resolve the complaint early by providing a proportionate remedy for the injustice caused to Miss X and investigating the complaint through the correct process.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman