Kent County Council (19 011 815)

Statement Upheld Child protection 05-Mar-2021

Summary: Ms X complains that both councils – Kent and Havering – failed to take safeguarding action when her older, adult son disclosed that he had sexually abused her younger son, who is a child, six years previously. Kent was at fault for a two-month delay in telling Havering about the disclosure, and both councils were at fault for failing to tell Ms X about it in good time. Both councils also failed to properly communicate with each other when considering safeguarding action, which meant neither held a strategy discussion to explore the potential risk. Ms X’s younger son, who, it appears, was not actually a victim of abuse, suffered no injustice. But both councils have agreed to provide remedies to recognise Ms X’s distress, and to change their procedures and train their staff to prevent similar failures in future.

London Borough of Havering (19 011 816)

Statement Upheld Child protection 05-Mar-2021

Summary: Ms X complains that both councils – Kent and Havering – failed to take safeguarding action when her older, adult son disclosed that he had sexually abused her younger son, who is a child, six years previously. Kent was at fault for a two-month delay in telling Havering about the disclosure, and both councils were at fault for failing to tell Ms X about it in good time. Both councils also failed to properly communicate with each other when considering safeguarding action, which meant neither held a strategy discussion to explore the potential risk. Ms X’s younger son, who, it appears, was not actually a victim of abuse, suffered no injustice. But both councils have agreed to provide remedies to recognise Ms X’s distress, and to change their procedures and train their staff to prevent similar failures in future.

Devon County Council (20 010 820)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 05-Mar-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint that the Council has been at fault in its involvement with her and in the care of her children. This is because it is unlikely we could add to the investigation the Council has carried out, or that our intervention would lead to a different outcome.

Staffordshire County Council (20 011 081)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 05-Mar-2021

Summary: We should not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the actions of social workers towards him before, during and after a court case concerning his children. These matters are not separable from those which have either been heard in court or where Mr X has a right to return to court it would be reasonable to use.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (20 011 254)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 05-Mar-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s actions in 2016. She could have come to us sooner and there is no good reason to investigate the matter now.

Birmingham City Council (20 012 610)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 05-Mar-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the support the Council gave his family. The events are more than 12 months old and there are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

Norfolk County Council (20 003 342)

Statement Not upheld Adoption 04-Mar-2021

Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly ended an adoption allowance for his son Y and retrospectively changed the reasons for its decision to try and justify treating Y’s older sibling differently. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to cease Y’s adoption allowance in July 2019.

Coventry City Council (20 003 907)

Statement Upheld Child protection 04-Mar-2021

Summary: Mr B complained about the actions of the Council in respect of child protection procedures concerning his daughter C. We have found some fault in the section 47 investigation leading to an initial child protection conference. We also found the Council should have considered Mr B’s complaint through all three stages of the statutory procedure. The Council has agreed to pay Mr B £350 and has already taken steps to improve its procedures.

Kent County Council (20 004 241)

Statement Upheld Other 04-Mar-2021

Summary: The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) recommended the Council consider a personal budget to meet Ms X’s social care needs. Ms X complained the Council failed to follow that recommendation. We find the Council did consider the recommendation of the Tribunal. There was some fault because the Council failed to document its discussions about the recommendation. However, that fault did not cause injustice to Ms X because the Council fully set out the reasons for its decision in a letter. The Council has agreed to improve its record-keeping.

Cumbria County Council (20 006 641)

Statement Upheld Other 04-Mar-2021

Summary: We find fault with the Council for failing to allow Mr B to progress his complaint through the Councils complaint process. This caused injustice to Mr B. The Council agrees actions to remedy the injustice.