Ms A complained about Swansea Council’s Social Services department and its interactions with her about her children. Ms A was dissatisfied with the Council’s response to her Stage 2 complaint. She raised concerns about the Independent Investigation report, which the Council had declined to consider.
The Ombudsman found that there had been a thorough and comprehensive independent Stage 2 investigation of Ms A’s complaint, which broadly addressed her concerns. However there were some aspects of the Independent Investigation report which were not sufficiently evidenced, and requested documents had not been provided to Ms A. The Council had not considered or responded to Ms A’s concerns about the report. Ms A was inconvenienced by the Council’s actions and this had caused frustration and uncertainty for her. The Ombudsman agreed to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Council agreed to consider Ms A’s correspondence and the matters which she said are factually incorrect in the Stage 2 Investigation Report within 4 weeks. It further agreed to provide her with a written response, addressing the matters contained in her correspondence to the Council and complaint to the Ombudsman, within 8 weeks.