Northamptonshire County Council (19 013 631)

Statement Not upheld Friends and family carers 15-Sep-2020

Summary: Mrs V complained the Council had not made appropriate payments to support the Special Guardianship Order she held. She thought the Council should pay a mileage allowance for her granddaughter to attend a school outside the county where she lived. Mrs V said a new assessment that had been carried out on the family in November was incorrect. There is no evidence of Council fault. Further, the complaint about the November assessment has not yet been considered by the Council.

Kent County Council (19 008 659)

Statement Not upheld Friends and family carers 14-Sep-2020

Summary: Miss X complains the Council has failed to provide emotional and financial support to her as carer of her grandchildren and she is unhappy with outcome and its handling of a financial assessment. Miss X says the children and her have suffered distress and financial loss. The Ombudsman has discontinued its investigation to allow the Council the opportunity to complete its complaints process.

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council (19 018 438)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 11-Sep-2020

Summary: Mr K complains the Council failed to deliver suitable beds for the children he was caring for and then failed to replace them. The Ombudsman has identified Council fault and the Council has agreed to make a payment and apologise for time and trouble.

Staffordshire County Council (20 002 650)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 03-Sep-2020

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council did not include the paternal extended family in decisions about contact with her brother’s children. We cannot investigate this complaint, because the law prevents us from considering issues that are being considered in court.

Leicestershire County Council (19 013 954)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 28-Aug-2020

Summary: Mrs B complains the Council has failed to provide sufficient financial help to support the accommodation needs of her household, after her and her husband agreed to care for four looked-after children following the death of their parent. We uphold the complaint, finding multiple failings in Council policy towards providing such help and in how it has sought to apply it to this case. The injustice this creates is that for over two years the household has lived in overcrowded conditions with no satisfactory decision on the extent of extra accommodation needed or how this will be provided. The Council agrees to apologise, pay a significant financial remedy to the household and reconsider its decisions following a methodology set out in this statement.

Leicester City Council (19 003 746)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 25-Aug-2020

Summary: Ms X complains of the actions of social workers in responding to concerns about her care of her grandchild, Z. She says this caused her severe distress and resulted in her admission to hospital. The only fault by the Council was some delay in the complaint process, for which it apologised.

Milton Keynes Council (19 008 479)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 20-Aug-2020

Summary: Miss X complained about the Council’s failure to support her in her role as Special Guardian. She says this caused both financial hardship and distress. The Ombudsman has found fault in a number of areas, including significant underpayment of the Special Guardianship Allowance. To remedy the injustice caused, the Council has agreed to recalculate her allowances properly, reimburse some of her legal costs and apologise. The Council has also agreed to review allowances it has made to others who may have been disadvantaged like Miss X.

Surrey County Council (19 013 010)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 11-Aug-2020

Summary: Mrs F complains about the Council’s actions in relation to her application for special guardianship. The Ombudsman has found fault by the Council which caused injustice. The Council has agreed to make a payment to Mrs F and properly consider her requests for financial support.

Hampshire County Council (19 011 807)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 03-Aug-2020

Summary: The complainant alleges that the Council failed to support her appropriately when caring fulltime for her child’s friend who the Council had said could not return home. The Council has not investigated this complaint, as the complainant has requested. The Ombudsman considers that this is fault by the Council, and he has recommended that the Council now arranges an independent investigation at Stage 2 of the statutory Children Act complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to do so and therefore the Ombudsman is closing the complaint.

Cumbria County Council (18 012 502)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 31-Jul-2020

Summary: Ms B complains the Council did not pay her fostering allowance when it placed her granddaughter in her care. She also complains the Council did not give her proper advice around permanency choices for Y. Ms B says this meant she had to live in poverty and still does not have security for her granddaughter. The Ombudsman finds fault in how the Council addressed permanency choices and for not paying foster allowance.