Councils in Northamptonshire paid more than £60,000 to residents after complaints upheld by watchdog

Both West and North Northamptonshire Councils revealed their yearly statistics from the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) at their executive meetings this week. The Ombudsman is a body that investigates complaints made against councils to help resolve issues in a range of areas including education, adult social care, housing and planning decisions.

In total, 101 complaints were made to the LGSCO about North Northants Council’s (NNC) services in the last financial year, up from 64 in 2022/23.

Altogether, 17 cases were upheld where the council was ordered to remedy their failures. Across the year, NNC paid out a massive £45,410 to compensate the individuals who made complaints.

Almost half of the upheld complaints were about the council’s education and children’s services, mainly relating to special educational needs faults and delays in issuing care assessment plans.

Councillor Scott Edwards, executive member for children and education said: “I’m truly sorry for those children that have had to go to the Ombudsman because I know that the education team and the SEND team within North Northants are trying their hardest to get children’s placements, to get EHCPs done in what is a really difficult time.

“I am sorry that these complaints are higher - one complaint is too high. There is a plan there, we are working on it, we will get there.”

For West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) 21 complaints were upheld in 2023/2024 compared to 29 in the previous financial year. The Ombudsman also received 111 complaints about the authority in total.

In all cases the LGSCO was satisfied that WNC had successfully implemented their suggested recommendations. This could be anything from service improvements to apologies and symbolic payments.

This amounted to the council making a total payment of £17,889 to compensate residents for service failures over the course of the year. Most of the cash went to families who complained about issues with the county’s special educational needs provision.

Councillor Fiona Baker, cabinet member for children and education said: “Complaints around special educational needs remains a key area and is a significant pressure for the local authority. The education service has appointed a dedicated lead in education for SEND to respond to complaints to ensure we stay in touch with people who are facing delays or have had reason to complain.”

Further delays in response and remedies

In letters written to NNC and WNC, both authorities were called out for their delay in responses to the Ombudsman’s investigations.

In the North, 73 percent of responses to requests for specific information were late. The council watchdog also wrote to West Northants, saying that more than half of their responses exceeded the deadlines.

The correspondence from LGSCO Chair Amerdeep Somal also pointed out a “disappointing” delay in their remedy processes for complainants. Almost half of the recommendations were not completed within the agreed timescales for NNC and a quarter were not completed in time in the West.

It was noted that this is the second consecutive year that timely responses and remedial action have been an issue for both authorities.

NNC has said it will start using a new case management system this month, which will hold all complaints casework. It says this will give officers better visibility and will aid in response times.

Leader of WNC, Councillor Adam Brown, also said that steps are being taken to ensure that the council is responding to requests from the Ombudsman and other independent bodies in a “timely fashion”.