Concerns have been raised by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman over the way councils handle complaints of cases involving children.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, Ms Amerdeep Somal has raised the concerns following two separate investigations into the way two London councils handled issues raised by families.

She found ‘systemic issues’ in the London Borough of Lewisham’s complaints procedure, with families facing ‘lengthy delays’.

In some cases, families were being ‘denied their right to access’ to all stages of the complaints process.

With London Borough of Harrow, she found the council had ‘failed to follow the proper procedure’ when a family complained about a lack of promised overnight respite care for their disabled child. This was despite a warning from the Ombudsman to improve its complaints handling.

Ms Somal also wants to see a review of statutory guidance for councils in handling complaints involving children, as it is ‘almost 20 years old’, ‘overly complex’ and ‘costly to run’.

She said that councils are finding the current complaints system ‘difficult to follow, and this can result in children’s voices not being heard loudly enough’.

Harrow Council has agreed to apologise to the family and pay them £700 ‘for the distress, worry and frustration caused by its faults’, said Ms Somal.

Lewisham has agreed to apologise to complainants, ensure their complaints are properly handled and ensure staff better understand the complaints process.

A Lewisham Council spokesperson said, “We agree to and accept all the recommendations made by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, recognising that our performance wasn’t acceptable and apologise to the families we have caused distress.

‘We have taken immediate action and implemented a comprehensive action plan to improve the management of complaints.’

Meanwhile, Ms Somal has reminded councils to ensure they are effectively supporting children with special educational needs (SEN) when they make the transition between primary and secondary school.

She has issued the reminder after an investigation found that Warwickshire County Council did not update a child’s education, health and care (EHC) plan by the required deadline, as this transition did not involve moving school setting.

The council has agreed to apologise to the parent and pay them £300 ‘for the frustration and distress caused by the delay in issuing the EHC Plan’, said Ms Somal.

Harrow Council has been contacted for comment.