Cumbria County Council (19 014 575)

Statement Upheld Child protection 03-Dec-2020

Summary: Ms B complained the Council had failed to arrange Looked After Child meetings from when her child, C, first went into care. It also failed to communicate properly with her or to address complaints she made. This meant she was unable to exercise parental responsibility for C. There is evidence of fault and the Council has been asked to apologise, make a financial settlement and to amend documentation.

London Borough of Bromley (20 004 076)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 02-Dec-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman should not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to take her children into care. A court decided these matters.

Suffolk County Council (20 005 558)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 02-Dec-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about how a Council responded to his safeguarding referral because he does not have parental responsibility for the children concerned.

Central Bedfordshire Council (20 006 149)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 02-Dec-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman cannot investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council was at fault in removing her children and failing to safeguard them. This is because the complaint concerns decisions made in court.

Leicestershire County Council (20 006 419)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 02-Dec-2020

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint she was excluded from her granddaughters’ child protection case. At this time, we cannot properly consider what injustice earlier events may have caused. Mrs X applied to court to reinstate contact with her granddaughters, and any decision we can make will rely on the outcome of those court proceedings.

Surrey County Council (20 006 397)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 01-Dec-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Ms X complaints about the child protection the Council gave her as a child. The events are over 20 years old and there are no good reasons the late complaint rule should not apply.

Devon County Council (19 020 560)

Statement Upheld Child protection 30-Nov-2020

Summary: Miss B complains the Council failed to implement a child protection plan put in place when her son, who is now 15, was a baby. She considers the Council has not provided adequate support to her. She further complains about the way the Council has considered her complaints and the remedy provided. She says it has had an adverse impact on her and her son’s mental health and she has suffered financially by not receiving the benefits to which they were entitled. There was fault which caused injustice to Miss B. The Council has apologised to Miss B but it will now make a payment to her.

London Borough of Bexley (20 005 125)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 30-Nov-2020

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to care arrangements for the complainant’s niece and nephew. This is because he could not add anything to the Council’s responses or provide the outcomes that the complainant seeks. He cannot investigate issues relating to the complainant’s sister or the children, as she does not have authority to complain on their behalf.

Gloucestershire County Council (19 011 450)

Statement Not upheld Child protection 27-Nov-2020

Summary: Miss B complains about how the Council dealt with her when it took child protection and safeguarding action. The Council has responded to the issues to make contact arrangements clearer and has apologised if there were misunderstandings. Overall, there is no clear fault by the Council.

Kent County Council (19 010 981)

Report Upheld Child protection 26-Nov-2020

Summary: Mrs B complains about the way Kent County Council and the London Borough of Croydon responded when her daughter, child C, disclosed sexual abuse.