Norfolk County Council (20 003 342)

Statement Not upheld Adoption 04-Mar-2021

Summary: Mr X complained the Council wrongly ended an adoption allowance for his son Y and retrospectively changed the reasons for its decision to try and justify treating Y’s older sibling differently. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision to cease Y’s adoption allowance in July 2019.

Coventry City Council (20 003 907)

Statement Upheld Child protection 04-Mar-2021

Summary: Mr B complained about the actions of the Council in respect of child protection procedures concerning his daughter C. We have found some fault in the section 47 investigation leading to an initial child protection conference. We also found the Council should have considered Mr B’s complaint through all three stages of the statutory procedure. The Council has agreed to pay Mr B £350 and has already taken steps to improve its procedures.

Hampshire County Council (20 010 663)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 03-Mar-2021

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaints about reports and assessments used in Court proceedings. We will not investigate assessments in 2016 and 2017 as there are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply. And the Information Commissioner’s Office is better placed to consider Mr X’s data protection complaint.

Lancashire County Council (20 011 444)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 03-Mar-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Miss B’s complaint that the Council made false allegations about her, leading to the removal of her daughter from her care. This is because the complaint is late and there are no grounds to consider it now.

City of York Council (20 011 049)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 02-Mar-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Miss D’s complaint that the Council failed to ensure that a member of staff sends her a personal apology for including inaccurate information in a social work report. This is because it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome.

Hertfordshire County Council (20 008 018)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 02-Mar-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council was biased in favour of her former partner. The matters complained of are not separable from those where Miss X has a right to return to court it would be reasonable to use.

Essex County Council (20 010 360)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 02-Mar-2021

Summary: On the evidence currently available, we will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the lack of financial support from the Council to help her look after her nephews. This is because the complaint is late. We will not exercise discretion to investigate it because Mrs X could have complained sooner. There are no good reasons why the late complaint rule should not apply.

Surrey County Council (20 010 575)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 02-Mar-2021

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the content of a Section 37 report and the social worker who wrote it. This is because the law prevents us from investigating matters which have been discussed in court.

Hertfordshire County Council (20 010 726)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 01-Mar-2021

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint that the Council failed to take safeguarding action to protect her child. The Court is considering the child’s care and we cannot investigate the same issues.

Plymouth City Council (20 010 825)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 01-Mar-2021

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council’s refusal to reconsider the outcome of a complaint it investigated in 2017 and the remedy it agreed. This matter is historic and there is no good reason to investigate it.