Mr A complained about the way in which his complaint, regarding the standard of care his son had received from the Council’s Children’s Social Services department, had been handled by the Council. Specifically, that his Social Services complaint had not been escalated to Stage 2 and that there had been delays in complaint updates.
The Ombudsman found that, although the Council had acknowledged and considered Mr A’s complaint at Stage 1, it failed to escalate to Stage 2. Furthermore, the Council delayed in updating Mr A following a complaints meeting, which Mr A said had caused inconvenience and uncertainty. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 2 months of issuing the decision letter, write to Mr A to apologise for the delays in updates and for not escalating his complaint to Stage 2. It also agreed to instigate the Stage 2 complaints investigation and appoint an Independent Investigator.