A South London council has apologised to families after an investigation found it was not always progressing their complaints over children’s social care services.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman found Lewisham Council had denied some families their right to progress to the next stage of the complaints process, which within children’s social care services covers everything from fostering and adoption to supporting care leavers and early interventions for struggling families.
Some families in Lewisham experienced delays in the complaints process and were not able to escalate their issues to stage two.
The council has been ordered to complete stage two of the procedure for 12 families whose stage two investigations were ongoing, prioritising those who were experiencing the most delay. A Lewisham Council spokesperson told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it accepts the recommendations made by the Ombudsman, and recognises that its performance wasn’t acceptable.
They added: “We have taken immediate action and implemented a comprehensive action plan to improve the management of complaints.”
Investigation took 89 working days longer than it should
Following two earlier investigations, the Ombudsman found multiple faults with the way the council was operating its children’s statutory complaints procedure.
One Lewisham mum, known as Ms X, had complained to the Ombudsman about the council’s complaint handling, and said it had failed to deliver services to her child. An initial Ombudsman investigation found the council was at fault with how it handled Ms X’s stage two investigation, and was ordered to complete it no later than December 2024, as well as apologise and award her compensation.
In March 2025, the council said its stage two investigation was complete and that the report would be shared with Ms X. However, she had still not received it at the start of April 2025. In mid-April the council wrote to Ms X and sent her a copy of the stage two investigation however she asked to escalate it to stage three of the complaints procedure.
The council did not respond to Ms X and she complained about this to the Ombudsman, with a new complaint being registered in April 2025. The Ombudsman found the council “far exceeded” the deadline for completing the stage two investigation after it took 89 working days longer than it should have.
In its decision, the Ombudsman said: “Miss X first made her complaint to the council in February 2024. It has taken the council 15 months to hear her complaint at two stages of the procedure. This significant delay is fault by the council. This fault has caused, and is still causing, ongoing frustration and uncertainty for Miss X.”
In May 2025, the Ombudsman asked the council for an update about stage three of Ms X’s complaint, and said she had not been in contact. However the council has since been in contact with Ms X, and said it had not processed her stage three request because the officer she sent the email to was on annual leave.
The council has said it will start stage three of the procedure without delay. The council has been ordered to apologise to Ms X and award her £250, which consists of £50 for every month there was a delay in completing stage two of the investigation, and progressing to stage three of the complaints procedure. The council must start stage three of Ms X’s complaints procedure immediately and must provide the Ombudsman with evidence it has complied with its actions.
What is the children’s statutory complaints procedure?
The children’s statutory complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough, and prompt response to their concerns.
There is a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services, which is set out in law. During the first stage, the council has up to 20 working days to respond. If a complainant is unhappy with the council’s response, they can ask for it to be moved to stage two.
Stage two should be completed within 25 working days, but there can be an extension of up to 65 days where required. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of a stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel.
The council must hold the panel within 30 working days of the date of the request and must issue a final response within 20 working days of the panel hearing.
