Mrs P complained that Ceredigion County Council had refused to consider her social services complaint as it did not meet the qualifying criteria of a complaint.
The Ombudsman found that although some elements of the complaint did relate to court proceedings, there was one issue that could be considered under the Social Services complaints process. The Ombudsman decided that there had been a failure by the Council to consider this particular issue. She said this had caused inconvenience and frustration for Mrs P. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to, within 2 weeks, apologise to Mrs P and provide her with a social services stage one acknowledgement letter.