Archive has 57 results
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Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 04-Sep-2019
Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate this complaint about contact with the complainant’s son. This is because it relates to a court order and is therefore out of our jurisdiction.
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Lancashire County Council (18 014 601)
Statement Not upheld Looked after children 27-Aug-2019
Summary: The complainant is concerned that the Council is failing to abide by the contact arrangements to her granddaughter, as ordered by the Court. The Ombudsman does not find fault in the Council’s earlier actions but there is now an opportunity to improve contact arrangements for the complainant if in the interests of her granddaughter. The Council has accepted this. The Ombudsman has therefore completed his investigation and is closing the complaint.
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Birmingham City Council (19 004 927)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 21-Aug-2019
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about Mr Q’s contact arrangements with his child. The Court decided the arrangements, so we have no power to investigate. Mr Q may go back to court if the Council does not comply with the contact arrangements.
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Kent County Council (19 003 366)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 16-Aug-2019
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council withholding part of a leaving care grant awarded to the complainant. This is because the complaint is made late and there are no good reasons to investigate the matter now.
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Wiltshire Council (18 019 074)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 22-Jul-2019
Summary: Ms B is a care leaver and complained about the lack of support she received from the Council. The Council failed to properly investigate Ms B’s complaint under the statutory complaints procedure for complaints about children services. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms B and investigate the complaint under the statutory procedure.
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Norfolk County Council (18 015 593)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 19-Jul-2019
Summary: Mr D complains about the way the Council dealt with the circumstances around his mother's death when he was a looked after child. The Ombudsman has found fault in record keeping, a looked after child review practice, and complaint handling. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr D to acknowledge the injustice caused.
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Stoke-on-Trent City Council (18 018 998)
Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 19-Jul-2019
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council failed to protect her when she was a child in care in 1994. The Council has agreed to investigate the complaint via the statutory complaint procedure.
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Salford City Council (18 005 749)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 18-Jul-2019
Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to inform him that two of his daughters had been taken into care and he only learned of this development through social media. He also complains it failed to contact him when his daughters were at risk of harm or keep him updated about key developments and decisions affecting them once he became aware of their circumstances. Moreover, he complains about the way the Council handled his complaint about these matters. The Ombudsman has found the Council was at fault for the way it handled Mr X’s complaint about these matters, but not for any other part of his complaint. In addition, we were unable to investigate his concerns about the Council not contacting him prior to April 2016 because this matter has been considered by the courts. The fault we did identify caused Mr X some distress therefore we recommend the Council apologises to him to remedy this injustice. We have also made a service improvement recommendation to prevent this fault from reoccurring. The Council has agreed to carry out these recommendations.
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Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 15-Jul-2019
Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the lack of support provided to the complainant when she was a child. This is because an absence of records, and the time that has passed, mean it would be impossible to carry out an effective investigation.
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London Borough of Ealing (18 015 562)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 04-Jul-2019
Summary: Mr W complained the Council failed to accept an agreement to support him through three years of undergraduate study. The Council was not at fault for saying the agreement it had with Mr W was for him to study a Higher National Diploma rather than a Batchelor of Science degree. But there was no evidence it considered whether supporting Mr W for the final year of study was in Mr W’s best interests. It is asked to do that now.