The local government ombudsman has found flaws in Lancashire Council's complaints handling system. The flaws were uncovered following an investigation into a birth mother's complaint about delays in making arrangements to enable her and the adoptive parents to exchange information about the child.
The ombudsman made a finding of maladministration against the council, though she found that this did not cause injustice to the complainant. Despite conflicting accounts and the absence of written records, the ombudsman found that the delays in service provision were not the council's fault.
The ombudsman hoped "lessons may be learned" from the flaws uncovered by the investigation, including absence of proper record-keeping and lack of clarity over who should have been dealing with the birth mother's requests about the information exchange.
"I hope that the council will take account of and learn from [the administrative shortcomings]," said ombudsman Patricia Thomas. "In particular I would encourage the council to seek training for its staff in complaints investigation."
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