Ms P complained that Swansea Council had failed to issue a response to her Stage 2 complaint about Social Services.
The Ombudsman found that whilst the Council had issued a Stage 1 complaint response, it had delayed issuing a Stage 2 complaint response. Furthermore, the Council had incorrectly issued a Stage 1 response under its Corporate Complaints Procedure and not the Social Services Complaints Procedure. She said that this caused frustration and uncertainty to Ms P. The Ombudsman decided to settle the complaint without an investigation.
The Ombudsman sought and gained the Council’s agreement to provide an apology to Ms P for failing to consider her complaint under the Social Services Complaints procedure, to issue a further apology for the delays in progressing her complaint, contact Ms P to agree the complaint points to be considered as part of the Stage 2 investigation and appoint an Independent officer to carry out the Stage 2 investigation within 6 weeks.