Above Right - Karen Millard for Solihull Adult Social Services
To members of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board 15 October 2024.
Dear Member,
The Statistics announced at the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board meeting on 16 July 2024 were remarkable. An increase in complements during the year 2023/24 from 176 in the previous period to 322 in the last reporting period, an increase of some 83 %, certainly attracts attention.
In the same period, complaints increased by 4, from 46 to 50, as Cllr. Delany correctly remarked that the number of complaints, by comparison, is very low indeed.*
Unfortunately, these remarkable statistics do not align with the reality my family and I have experienced. We have twin daughters, both of whom have severe Spastic Cerebral Palsy. Miss C and Miss D both live at home. We have extensive experience in dealing with Solihull Social Services since 1985. For those who remember him, the late Dr Peter Lee was our Councillor and GP for many years and provided nothing short of monumental support during that time, as indeed did Caroline Spelman when she was asked to do so.
Unfortunately, those days have long since passed. Following the information that came to light after CllrTomlinson's election to the Dorridge and Hockley Heath Ward, including her undeclared employment by Age Concern Solihull Ltd T/A Age UK Solihull, I resigned from the Conservative Party. Her company receives millions of £ income from Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.
I have courtesy copied Cllr Courts and Cllr Mackiewicz as my locally elected representatives for the Council.
I made a complaint on 8 June 2023 (twenty-three), but the Council refused my 'request to make a complaint'--for whatever a 'request' to complain is supposed to be. For that, please see the attached.
In the circumstances, I reported the issue to the Local Government Ombudsman, who, in June 2024, upheld the complaint and instructed Social Services to respond to it. A response was finally received in September 2024, some 15 months after I made the complaint. The response is inadequate, so that, too, has been reported to the LGO.
During that process, in May this year, Lizzie Edwards, Bethany Hutchinson, and Karen Millard undertook a trip to London, to the LGO offices in Marsham Street. There, in London, they attempted to change the Ombudsman's Draft Decision that had been issued shortly before. This significant trip showed the Council's degree of effort to overturn the Ombudsman's decision. Thankfully, from my point of view, they failed.
The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We found fault in the Council's failure to consider the
complaint about the withdrawal of support from the complainant's (Mr X) daughters (Miss C and Miss D). The Council's fault caused injustice to Mr X and his wife (Mrs X) as they had no opportunity to have their concerns investigated. The Council agreed to apologise and to consider Mr X's complaint.
How many complaints could there be somewhere tucked away?*
My daughter has recently filed another complaint to the LGO on a similar matter – refusal to answer a complaint.
Is it possible, therefore, complaints – or what Solihull terms as a request – are rejected at the so-called 'request
I hope the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board members will share my view that these statistics should be verified and explained beyond reproach. As the Board responsible for overseeing the quality of social services, your involvement in this matter is crucial. To that end, I have made a Freedom of Information request, a copy of which is attached, and I hope it is self-explanatory.
Regards
Dear Member,
The Statistics announced at the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board meeting on 16 July 2024 were remarkable. An increase in complements during the year 2023/24 from 176 in the previous period to 322 in the last reporting period, an increase of some 83 %, certainly attracts attention.
In the same period, complaints increased by 4, from 46 to 50, as Cllr. Delany correctly remarked that the number of complaints, by comparison, is very low indeed.*
Unfortunately, these remarkable statistics do not align with the reality my family and I have experienced. We have twin daughters, both of whom have severe Spastic Cerebral Palsy. Miss C and Miss D both live at home. We have extensive experience in dealing with Solihull Social Services since 1985. For those who remember him, the late Dr Peter Lee was our Councillor and GP for many years and provided nothing short of monumental support during that time, as indeed did Caroline Spelman when she was asked to do so.
Unfortunately, those days have long since passed. Following the information that came to light after CllrTomlinson's election to the Dorridge and Hockley Heath Ward, including her undeclared employment by Age Concern Solihull Ltd T/A Age UK Solihull, I resigned from the Conservative Party. Her company receives millions of £ income from Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council.
I have courtesy copied Cllr Courts and Cllr Mackiewicz as my locally elected representatives for the Council.
I made a complaint on 8 June 2023 (twenty-three), but the Council refused my 'request to make a complaint'--for whatever a 'request' to complain is supposed to be. For that, please see the attached.
In the circumstances, I reported the issue to the Local Government Ombudsman, who, in June 2024, upheld the complaint and instructed Social Services to respond to it. A response was finally received in September 2024, some 15 months after I made the complaint. The response is inadequate, so that, too, has been reported to the LGO.
During that process, in May this year, Lizzie Edwards, Bethany Hutchinson, and Karen Millard undertook a trip to London, to the LGO offices in Marsham Street. There, in London, they attempted to change the Ombudsman's Draft Decision that had been issued shortly before. This significant trip showed the Council's degree of effort to overturn the Ombudsman's decision. Thankfully, from my point of view, they failed.
The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We found fault in the Council's failure to consider the
complaint about the withdrawal of support from the complainant's (Mr X) daughters (Miss C and Miss D). The Council's fault caused injustice to Mr X and his wife (Mrs X) as they had no opportunity to have their concerns investigated. The Council agreed to apologise and to consider Mr X's complaint.
How many complaints could there be somewhere tucked away?*
My daughter has recently filed another complaint to the LGO on a similar matter – refusal to answer a complaint.
Is it possible, therefore, complaints – or what Solihull terms as a request – are rejected at the so-called 'request
I hope the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Board members will share my view that these statistics should be verified and explained beyond reproach. As the Board responsible for overseeing the quality of social services, your involvement in this matter is crucial. To that end, I have made a Freedom of Information request, a copy of which is attached, and I hope it is self-explanatory.
Regards