The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We have upheld Ms 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 Ms X.
The complaint
Ms X complains the Council have not been impartial in its dealings with her, that she has not been treated fairly and that she has concerns about the content of a Child in Need plan.
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 Ms X I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mrs X made her complaint to the Council and the Council responded through its corporate complaints process.
If we investigated this complaint, it is likely we would find the Council at fault, because the Council should have investigated 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 Ms 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 Ms X by investigating the complaint through the correct process.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman