appendix d: summaries of selected cases tory, first with the county and later on with the Greater Copenhagen Authority. From the time when the local authority began processing the case until the local authority made a decision, five years and three months passed. For a period of more than three years, nothing happened in the case. The Ombudsman stated that this gave the impression that the local authority had forgotten about the case, and he found the local authority’s case processing time to be a matter for severe criticism. The Ombudsman also found it regrettable that the local authority had not replied to a reminder, nor on its own initiative informed the complainant about the case processing time. The Ombudsman recommended that the local authority consider setting targets for its case processing time and monitoring that the targets were observed. (Case No. 2010-0688-1002) 9. Local authority reacted too slowly and inade­quately to teacher’s report of child abuse A class teacher suspected that a child in her class and the child’s siblings suffered physical abuse when visiting their father, and the teacher therefore notified the local authority of her grave suspicion. The lawyer of the children’s mother complained to the Ombudsman that the local authority did not take adequate measures in response to the teacher’s notification. The Ombudsman criticised the local authority for not reporting the matter to the police. The Ombudsman stated that the local authority ought to have contacted the regional state administration, which makes decisions about visiting rights, and reported the information it had received. Thus, the local authority should not just have asked the children’s mother to contact the regional state administration herself with the information about the teacher’s notification. The Ombudsman also criticised the processing time for the family assessment investigation pursuant to section 50 of the Social Services Act which the local authority was obliged to carry out on the basis of the notification. 99