Council must pay £150 for woman's 144-day wait

Peterborough City Council apologised for any "distress" the delay caused

A woman who faced long delays in having her complaints against a council processed has been paid £150.

The woman's complaint about a change to an adoption allowance policy at Peterborough City Council was delayed by 144 working days.

Referred to as Mrs X, she experienced "frustration and uncertainty", a report published by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman said.

A council spokesperson said the council wanted to apologise for any "distress" caused by the delay.

"We accept the findings by the ombudsman, have carried out the actions required in their report and will recognise the learnings from this," the council spokesperson added.

'Long delays'

Mrs X initially complained to the local authority about how it handled a change in its policy for adoption and special guardianship allowances (SGA).

In early 2022, she was told she would no longer be paid an allowance for her adopted child, the Local Democracy Reporting Service wrote.

SGA payments for her other child, who had special educational needs, would be gradually reduced over four years, she was also told.

Her complaint was not upheld via the council's internal process, but it agreed to consider issuing her an allowance by exemption and agreed her child with extra needs might benefit from a referral to its early help team.

She contacted the ombudsman, which found the complaints process was followed correctly but said there were "long delays".

The review also found that recommendations made to the council had not been enforced, such as giving staff extra training.