Cumbria County Council (18 014 964)

Statement Upheld Other 23-Sep-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman upholds Mr X’s complaint about the lack of nursery provision for his son Y when he was a looked after child. The Council failed to take action to arrange transport to Y’s existing nursery or to identify an alternative nursery for him to attend. It also did not complete a Personal Education Plan (PEP). As a result, Y lost an opportunity to receive early education, including support with his speech and building relationships with his peers. The Council agreed to apologise to Mr X, make a payment to him and to Y, and review its procedures to ensure timescales for PEPs are clear.

Leicestershire County Council (18 005 770)

Statement Upheld Other 23-Sep-2019

Summary: Ms X complains the Council left her to deal with a building contractor after 2015, when shoddy works to adapt their home were carried out and that it has since failed to re-assess her daughter, Z, as a child-in-need. She says this has means Z has not been able to use the downstairs shower that was installed. Ms X did not raise with the Council the matter of Z being a possible child-in-need until 2018, so we will not consider matters before then. But the Council failed for six months after we first told it the failed adaptations might mean Z is now a child-in-need to recognise its duty to re-assess her. It will not be possible to know if this delay caused any injustice to Z until it completes the overdue assessment.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council (19 005 542)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 18-Sep-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the ending of the Council’s support for the complainant’s family in 2015. This is because the complaint is made late and there are no good reasons to exercise the Ombudsman’s discretion to investigate it now.

Sheffield City Council (19 006 271)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 17-Sep-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children services actions. There are no compelling reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

East Sussex County Council (18 011 933)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 17-Sep-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X’s complaint that the Council holds false information about her. The complaint is better suited to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

North Yorkshire County Council (18 018 159)

Statement Upheld Other 16-Sep-2019

Summary: Mr X complains about the Council’s role in the investigation of an incident at school where his son was placed in a room behind a locked door. There was fault in the Council’s role in the oversight of the investigation and in its handling of Mr X’s complaint. The Council will apologise.

Buckinghamshire County Council (19 005 870)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 15-Sep-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Mr A’s complaint that the social worker commissioned to produce a Section 7 report is not independent of the Council. Complaints relating to such reports fall outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction.

East Sussex County Council (19 002 606)

Statement Upheld Other 12-Sep-2019

Summary: Mr X complains about two section 17 family assessments. He says the report aren’t accurate and are misleading. Mr X made a complaint to the Council. The Council refused to escalate his complaint to stage 2 of the statutory children’s complaint procedure. We find fault with the Council for failing to follow the statutory children’s complaint procedure properly. The Council has agreed to escalate Mr X’s complaint to stage 2 of the procedure.

Buckinghamshire County Council (19 005 792)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 12-Sep-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman should not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to share information about his child or involve him in a school application. It is unlikely we would find any fault which requires a remedy and the Information Commissioner is better placed.

London Borough of Lewisham (18 014 422)

Statement Not upheld Other 12-Sep-2019

Summary: Ms X complains the Council delayed paying a financial remedy recommended by the Ombudsman in 2016. There is no fault in the actions of the Council as it did not receive Ms X’s bank account details until 2019.