Failings in dealing with complaints identified
FAILINGS have been identified in Leicestershire County Council’s handling of complaints, with one child left “at risk of significant harm”.
An annual report by the local government ombudsman said it carried out 19 detailed investigations relating to the council’s handling of complaints in the year to March 31.
Of those, 13 were upheld. Two resulted in public reports – typically issued when it is in the public interest to highlight an issue or because what went wrong and the impact it had were particularly serious.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman chairman Michael King said one of the cases showed a failure on the part of the council to follow safeguarding legislation and guidance.
The judgement came after a father complained about the council’s inaction in protecting his child from their mother.
Mr King said a lack of accountability on the part of the council – which did not accept the accusations of poor practice levelled by the father, despite the ombudsman ruling the council had failed to act appropriately – put the child at risk of significant harm.
Mr King also criticised the handling of a case through which it came to light that 80 families were being charged for nursery care that should have been free.
He said: “It is disappointing the council dismissed the concerns of a parent who complained about the nursery’s charges, failed to spot problems when it audited the nursery and that it rejected our draft findings.”
Through the ombudsman’s intervention, the families received refunds.
Further faults included failing in the provision of “suitable full-time education for a young person after they moved into the area”, including a delay in dealing with the family’s school application.
“As a result, the pupil missed education provision at a critical point in their secondary education, causing longterm disadvantage,” Mr King said.
He said: “I welcome the council’s prompt acknowledgement of fault in this case and its proposal to undertake service improvements at an early stage in our investigation.”
Of the 19 cases investigated, only one was judged to have received a satisfactory response from the council before proceeding to the ombudsman.
However, the report said the council had successfully implemented its recommendations in all of the other cases.
REPORT SAYS COUNCIL PUT ONE CHILD AT RISK OF HARM