Northumberland County Council has apologised after it failed to properly investigate a complaint made by an unnamed man about alleged abuse and neglect in children's homes.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman ordered the council to apologise after finding a "sufficiently independent and robust investigation" into the complaint had not been carried out and said the council was "at fault" for failing to investigate the complainant's - known as Mr X - concerns about the care homes he lived in.
The ombudsman's report said the failure to do so had caused Mr X "avoidable distress". The county council has said "valuable lessons" were learned following the investigation.
