Mr A complained about the Council’s complaint handling, lack of
communication and that his original complaint had not been resolved.
The Ombudsman found the Council’s complaint handling to be poor and
that the matter had not been fully resolved. The Ombudsman
considered this caused Mr A frustration due to a lack of progression in
the matter he complained about and decided to settle the complaint
without an investigation.
The Ombudsman gained the Council’s agreement to within 1 week, write
to Mr A apologising for not escalating the complaint to the Statutory
Stage 2 Social Services Complaints Process and explain the reasons
why, confirm to Mr A that an independent investigator will be appointed,
offer £150 financial redress in recognition of the delay and confirm that
the Council will write to him once an independent investigator has been
appointed. Additionally, within 6 weeks the Council agreed to an
independent investigator issuing a complaint response.