The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council delayed progressing a complaint to stage three of the statutory procedure for complaints about children’s services. This is because the Council has now arranged for the complaint to be considered by a panel and has offered the complainant a suitable payment to remedy the injustice its delay has caused him. Therefore, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
The complaint
The complainant, who I will call Mr X, complained to the Council about how its children’s services dealt with a referral and about the bias of a social worker. The Council considered Mr X’s complain under the statutory procedure for complaints about children’s services. Mr X complained to the Ombudsman that the Council delayed progressing his complaint to stage three of this procedure.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Mr X asked the Council to progress his complaint to stage three of the statutory complaints procedure, which consists of a review by an independent panel. He asked the Ombudsman to intervene after around six months had passed without the panel being arranged.
Since asking the Ombudsman to investigate, the Council has agreed a date with Mr X for the stage three panel to take place. Mr X has therefore achieved the outcome he was seeking. The Council has also offered to make a payment to Mr X to reflect the delay in dealing with his complaint. This payment is in line with our guidance on remedies. Further investigation is unlikely to achieved anything further and therefore I will not investigate Mr X’s complaint.
Final decision
We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman