DERBYSHIRE County Council is to review its complaints procedure after failing to deal with a woman's issue for two years.
Despite assuring the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) three times that it would investigate the problem, the authority failed to take action.
The LGO has now issued a report detailing the council's poor handling of the situation and the action it should now undertake.
The woman – referred to as Mrs X – first contacted the LGO after complaints to the county council about its children's services department went unanswered in May 2011.
Mrs X complained about the way it had dealt with her in placing her two children into care in 2008 and how it had dealt with her since then.
Specifically, she alleged the council subjected her children, who were in the authority's care, to unnecessary medical examinations and treatments, placing them at risk of harm.
The council assured the LGO that it would investigate, and the case was closed. But, by September 2012, the council still had not properly investigated the matter.
The woman made a further complaint to the LGO and again the council promised to investigate.
By April 2013, the woman contacted the LGO saying she had received no communication from the council or the investigating officer.
The LGO wrote to the council once again in April this year and the woman finally received an acknowledgement of her complaint two days later – some 25 months after it was first registered with the council.
A spokesman for the council said: "We're sorry for the distress this has caused and have given Mrs X our sincere apologies. An investigating officer has been appointed and is examining the complaints and we will be contacting Mrs X as soon as possible to offer her a number of potential dates so she can meet with us about her complaints."