Birmingham City Council (19 019 194)

Statement Upheld Fostering 26-Feb-2021

Summary: Mrs B complained the Council failed to ensure her information, and that of her foster children, was kept confidential. It shared her address with the birth mother who was not allowed contact with the children. This has caused significant distress to the family whose human rights have been affected. The Council has agreed to make a payment for the family to move house and to change its procedures to ensure such data breaches are prevented in the future. It has also agreed to disseminate the learning from this complaint.

Devon County Council (19 021 160)

Statement Upheld Disabled children 26-Feb-2021

Summary: Mrs X complains about the way the Council dealt with her son Y’s care package and agreed the Direct Payments for his care needs. We found fault by the Council in its failure to consider Mrs X’s complaints through the statutory complaint procedure. But this did not cause her a significant injustice because the Council dealt with her concerns through its corporate complaint procedure. However, the Council took too long to in its investigation causing Mrs X frustration and time and trouble in chasing the Council for responses. The Council has accepted our recommended remedy in this case so we have completed our investigation.

London Borough Of Barnet (20 001 487)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 26-Feb-2021

Summary: Mr B complained about the actions the Council took in respect of his complaints about the service he received as a care leaver. We found the Council was at fault and should have considered Mr B’s complaint at stage three of the statutory complaints procedure. But we consider the action taken by the Council including the payment offered (£1500), is sufficient to put matters right.

Essex County Council (20 007 809)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 26-Feb-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s children services team not supporting her nine years ago and her mother’s employment contract terms. There are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

Staffordshire County Council (20 010 814)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 26-Feb-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about matters during a court case in 2013 and the actions of her son’s special guardians at contact sessions. We cannot investigate matters that happened during court proceedings, and it would be reasonable for Miss X to return to court if she is dissatisfied with contact arrangements.

West Sussex County Council (20 010 383)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 26-Feb-2021

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to a safeguarding referral because he has since taken the matter of his child’s safeguarding to court.

Leeds City Council (20 008 121)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 25-Feb-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council has failed to deal with his complaint about his son who is in care and problems with contact arrangements. The Council has agreed to deal with the complaint and keep to the legal time requirements. Mr X may return to this office if he disagrees with the outcome.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (20 000 314)

Statement Upheld Child protection 24-Feb-2021

Summary: Mr and Mrs E complained about the Council’s application of child protection procedures to their family. They say the Council failed to properly consider their views which lead to their daughter being placed on a child protection plan. We find the Council was at fault because it delayed sending Mr and Mrs E a copy of the initial child protection conference minutes. It also had to re-arrange the initial child protection conference when not all professionals could attend. In addition to the remedy it offered, the Council has agreed to our recommendations to implement service improvements to prevent reoccurrence of the identified fault.

West Sussex County Council (20 000 694)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 24-Feb-2021

Summary: We cannot investigate Ms X’s complaint about her child’s current care arrangements as the Court is considering this. And we will not investigate her complaint about events in 2015 as there are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

London Borough of Waltham Forest (20 005 986)

Statement Upheld Child protection 24-Feb-2021

Summary: Ms B complains about the way the Council responded to a child protection referral about her children. We find fault with the Council for failing to complete the statutory complaint process. This caused Ms B injustice. The Council agrees actions to remedy the injustice.