Ombudsman calls for “urgent review” of statutory complaints process for cases involving children after finding failings by two London councils

The Ombudsman noted that a quarter of all enquiries it received from councils last year were about the children’s statutory complaints process.

In the case involving Lewisham, the Ombudsman’s investigation uncovered “systemic issues” with the way the council operated its complaints procedure.

The report noted that families in the borough have often experienced “lengthy delays” and, in some cases, have been denied their right to access all three stages of the complaints procedure.

In Harrow, the Ombudsman found the council “failed to follow the proper procedure” when considering a family’s complaint about a lack of promised overnight respite care for their disabled child, despite being reminded by the Ombudsman to do so.

To remedy the injustice caused, the council agreed to apologise to the family, and pay them a combined £700 for the distress, worry and frustration caused by its faults.

Further, it said it would ensure it will start and complete stage two of the family’s complaints in the required timescale, and that the same will apply if the family wish to take their complaint to stage three.

In the Lewisham case, the council agreed to write to complainants who did not proceed to stage two of the procedure, apologise to them, and invite them to do so.

It said it will also complete stage two of the procedure for 12 complaints whose stage two investigations were ongoing.

Finally, the council agreed to ensure staff involved in the children’s statutory process understand what is required to progress a complaint to stage two.

Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “The regulations and statutory guidance for councils to consider children’s complaints are almost 20 years old. Councils tell us the process is overly complex, costly to run and does not always deliver good outcomes for the children at the heart of the complaints.

“Is this process is still fit for purpose in the modern local government landscape? We know some councils find the process difficult to follow, and this can result in children’s voices not being heard loudly enough.

“Even though we appreciate the difficulties councils face, we have issued these two reports because we will continue to hold councils to account when they do not meet the standards expected of them by the children and families in their area.”

Last year, the Ombudsman upheld 96% of the complaints it investigated about the statutory process, compared with 80% of complaints about children’s services more widely.

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said: “We agree to and accept all the recommendations made by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, recognising that our performance wasn’t acceptable and apologise to the families we have caused distress. We have taken immediate action and implemented a comprehensive action plan to improve the management of complaints.”

A spokesperson for the London Borough of Harrow said: "We accept the findings of the Ombudsman and have apologised to the family for the distress and uncertainty caused for the handling of their complaint. 

"The council works hard to ensure the expectations of our parents and families, unfortunately on this occasion we fell short of the standards that families should expect to receive. We have also reviewed our processes in handling complaints to ensure we avoid a recurrence. 

"We are in regular contact with Mr X and are currently in the process of completing the investigation into the complaint in line with the Ombudsman’s instruction."

Lottie Winson