Source · SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman)

Perth and Kinross Council

SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) Partly Upheld Reference 201103632 Sector Local Government Category complaints handling (incl social work complaints procedures) Decided 01 September 2012

View Perth and Kinross Council scorecard

Original decision on the SPSO (Scottish Public Services Ombudsman) website ↗

Full decision

Summary

Mr C acts as guardian and carer for his disabled adult son. He complained that the council did not properly investigate a complaint that he made on behalf of his son. He also said that they did not provide advice about the social work complaints procedure, by failing to tell him that he could take the matter on to a complaints review committee.

We found that the council's complaints procedure was quite clear about the steps that should be taken. Our investigation, however, identified several areas where this process was not followed. These included delay in appointing an investigating officer, failure to interview Mr C, and providing him with details of the procedure only after they had sent him their decision on his complaint.

We did not uphold the second complaint, as it was clear that Mr C was given detailed information about the next stage of the process, and an extension of the period to request a review.

Related reading

View Decision Report 201103632 as a PDF (11.18 KB) Updated: March 13, 2018

View original on SPSO (Scottish Publ… website