Council rapped by ombudsman 'once again' after being too slow to implement recommendations

A council has been rapped for the second year in a row by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for failing to remedy complaints within agreed timescales.

In a letter to Redcar and Cleveland Council managing director John Sampson, the ombudsman Amerdeep Somal said he welcomed the local authority having agreed and implemented the recommendations in five cases dealt with in 2023/24. But he said it was disappointing that in two of the cases the council failed to complete the recommendations made within agreed timescales.

Mr Somal wrote: “It is particularly disappointing that this is the second consecutive year we have had to raise such concerns with your council.”

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The ombudsman said that in one of the cases the council delayed carrying out an urgent review of a disabled man’s care and support plan - and in the other there was a delay in finding a new residential placement for a disabled child. He added: “While I acknowledge the pressures councils are under, such delays only add to complainants’ frustration.

“We share recommendations at the draft decision stage of our process and often propose a time period within which we expect any actions to be completed. It is important your council engages fully with that process and is realistic in either confirming or seeking to negotiate the timeframe required to complete the actions.

“I once again invite the council to consider how it might make improvements to reduce delays in the remedy process and I hope to see an improved performance in the year ahead.”

The council in a statement said: “The council aims to uphold the highest professional standards and we are pleased that the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman noted that we were 100% compliant with all recommendations.

“We acknowledge that there were unfortunately two cases which had delays in completing the recommended actions within the timescales. One of them was a short three-day delay in our response to the ombudsman.

“The other case was a much more complex case relating to a permanent residential placement for a child with very complicated needs. The ombudsman was kept up to date at all stages and was aware of the difficulties in finding a suitable property that met the needs of this vulnerable child.”

A report for the council’s governance committee, which included the ombudsman’s letter, said an apology had been given in respect of the delay to the urgent review of the disabled man’s care. Meanwhile, it said the accommodation delay was due to the necessary care provision not being available locally.

It said: “In learning from this complaint and to meet future care needs in this area several different options have been explored and developed, which include the purchase of properties for use as bespoke Ofsted registered care homes and the purchase of additional properties for conversion to children’s homes.”

The report said: “Public experience of local services is at the heart of our thinking with the aim to resolve complaints in a structured and timely manner.”

It described 27 complaints received by the ombudsman for the year ending March 31 where individuals were either dissatisfied with the council’s response or had taken a complaint directly to the ombudsman at an earlier stage. Of the 27, 23 resulted in no further action as, at a preliminary stage, no fault was found with the council.

The remaining four cases resulted in a detailed investigation where the ombudsman upheld three complaints with one not upheld. The number of complaints upheld by the ombudsman against the council was the lowest since 2020 when just one was upheld.

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