The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about her request for a parent carer assessment and the support provided for her son because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s investigation at this time.
The complaint
Ms X complains about: the Council’s response to her request for a parent carer assessment; the support provided for her son; the Council’s response to concerns about his school, and his subsequent absence from education; and the Council’s complaint handling.
The Council agreed to respond to Ms X’s complaint under the statutory children’s complaints process. Ms X asked us to consider her complaint when she had not heard from the Council at the second stage of the process by the date promised. She was concerned that any delay would harm her son.
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 impact 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 or continue an investigation if we decide we could not add to any investigation by the organisation. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The statutory children’s complaints process is a formal procedure, set out in law, which councils must follow to investigate certain types of complaint. It involves: a written response from the Council (Stage 1); the appointment of an independent investigator to prepare a report (Stage 2); and, if the person making the complaint requests an independent panel to consider their representations (Stage 3).
Regulations set out the timescales for the process. The Council should provide a response at Stage 1 within 10 working days, at Stage 2 within 25 working days (or exceptionally within 65 working days) and convene a review panel at Stage 3 within 30 working days.
We usually expect complainants and councils to complete all three stages of the process before we consider a complaint.
Ms X was expecting to receive the Council’s response to her complaint at the second stage of the process by 4 August. When she did not receive a response, she contacted us. She asked us to consider accepting her complaint for investigation and outlined her concerns about the impact of delays on her son.
We appreciate that delay is not only frustrating but can have a negative impact if assessments and services are also delayed.
I asked the Council for an update. The Council said it had sent the stage two response to Ms X the previous week. The Council sent me a copy.
I see from the Council’s response that the independent investigator appointed by the Council upheld all Ms X’s complaints. The Council accepted the investigator’s findings and apologised for its mistakes.
The Council agreed to re-assess Ms X’s son’s needs and her needs as a parent carer. The Council has also proposed a symbolic remedy for delays in the complaints process.
The Council invited Ms X to proceed to the third and final stage of the complaints process if she was unhappy with the Council’s response at stage 2.
There is nothing we could add at this stage by accepting Ms X’s complaint now. Although there has been some delay, there has been significant progress. We could not achieve any more, any faster, by accepting the complaint now.
In any event, it is unlikely we could add anything until the reassessment of Ms X’s son’s needs and her needs as a parent carer has been completed. Only then will we be able to judge whether any previous faults with the assessment are likely to have caused any injustice (such as missed services).
If the reassessment results in an increase in services for Ms X or her son the Council should consider whether a remedy is necessary. If Ms X and the Council cannot reach an agreement, Ms X may consider asking us to consider her complaint at this stage.
Final decision
We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s investigation at this stage.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman