The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint until she shortened the summary of complaint to two pages. We have decided to discontinue our investigation. The Council has agreed to consider Miss X’s complaint and this was her desired outcome for our investigation.
The complaint
Miss X complained about the Council’s decision not to investigate her complaint until she shortened the summary of complaint to two pages.
Miss X said the Council’s decision unfairly stops her concerns being investigated and considers the Council is not listening to her.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
It is our decision whether to start, and when to end an investigation into something the law allows us to investigate. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 24A(6) and 34B(8), as amended) 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 that our investigation would not achieve another outcome for the complainant. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
I considered the information Miss X and the Council sent me. Miss X and the Council have had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.
What I found
What happened In July 2023 Miss X complained to the Council about the care she received as a looked after child. A child who has been in the care of their council for more than 24 hours is known as a looked after child. Looked after children are also often referred to as children in care.
A month later the Council told Miss X that it would not consider her complaint until she shortened the statement of complaint to two A4 pages.
Miss X questioned the Council’s decision the following month and said that she required reasonable adjustments. The reasonable adjustment duty is set out in the Equality Act 2010 and applies to any organisation which carries out a public function. Service providers are under a positive and proactive duty to take steps to remove or prevent obstacles to accessing their service. If the adjustments are reasonable, they must make them. The Council did not respond to her message but asked if she wanted to continue with her complaint.
Miss X chased the Council for an update between October and November 2023, and when she did not receive a response, she complained to us the following month.
Analysis Before we were able to start the investigation the Council agreed to work with Miss X and agree a complaint statement it would then investigate.
We consider this to suitably address Miss X’s complaint and that our investigation would not be able to achieve any other worthwhile outcome for Miss X. Because of this we have decided to discontinue this investigation.
Final decision
We have discontinued this investigation.
Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman