Ombudsman upholds complaint over Central Beds Council failure to provide for disabled child's needs
A complaint by a parent of a disabled child against Central Bedfordshire Council’s failure to conduct an educational assessment has been upheld.
The father complained to Central Bedfordshire Council in September 2025 about a failure to carry out a Children Act 1989 Section 17 assessment and provide for the needs of his disabled child, according to a local government watchdog.
The council replied at stage one of its corporate complaints procedure in October and at stage two last November, said the local government and social care ombudsman’s report.
But the ombudsman explained the father’s complaint about CBC children’s services actions “won’t be investigated” as the council has agreed now to follow the Children Act statutory complaints procedure.
“In doing so, this is a proportionate way to resolve the complaint. If we were to investigate, it’s likely we would find fault causing the parent injustice. That’s because this complaint should have been replied to within the Children Act statutory complaints procedure.
“CBC has agreed to complete stage two of the Children Act statutory complaints procedure within 65 working days of our final decision, and notify the parent of his rights under this process.
“The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. The first stage of the process is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
“If a complainant isn’t happy with a local authority’s stage one response, they can ask that it’s considered at stage two. At this stage of the procedure, councils appoint an investigator and an independent person who is responsible for overseeing the investigation.
“Councils have up to 13 weeks to complete stage two of the process from the date of request. If a complainant is unhappy with the result of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel.”
The council must hold the panel within 30 days of the date of request, and issue a final response within 20 days of the panel hearing, added the report.
“We’ve upheld this complaint because we asked CBC to remedy the injustice caused by not using the right complaints procedure. The council has agreed a proportionate remedy for the father.”