Kent County Council (21 001 933)

Statement Upheld Other 21-Feb-2022

Summary: Mrs X complained about the communication and support provided to the family and the Council’s actions when it placed their son in temporary foster care. They also complained that their son overheard a discussion between professionals that he should not have. We found there was fault, but the Council’s apology and actions to prevent a recurrence of the fault that occurred were a suitable remedy to the complaint.

Kent County Council (21 015 864)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 21-Feb-2022

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker. Most of the matters complained of are not separable from matters that are subject to court action, and we cannot investigate them. The social worker’s lateness for meetings is separable, but there is not enough fault or injustice to warrant investigation, and investigation by us would be unlikely to lead to a different outcome or achieve the outcome Miss X wants.

Staffordshire County Council (20 013 657)

Statement Upheld Other 18-Feb-2022

Summary: We uphold Mr X’s complaint, as the Council delayed considering a complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to complete its stage two without further delay and make a payment for the delay so far.

East Sussex County Council (21 015 699)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 17-Feb-2022

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint that the Council discriminated against the complainant in matters relating to the care of his children. This is because the children’s care has been considered in Court.

Kingston Upon Hull City Council (21 014 836)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 16-Feb-2022

Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint that the Council wrongly shared personal information about her in court. That is because we cannot investigate what happened in court.

Hartlepool Borough Council (21 015 750)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 16-Feb-2022

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about what a social worker wrote in an addendum to a report for a court. This matter is not separable from the court proceedings.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (21 015 288)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 15-Feb-2022

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council failing to risk-assess contact between Mr X’s sons and their birth parents and take appropriate safeguarding action. There has been court action concerning both sons and the matters complained of are not separable from matters that either were or could have been raised in court.

Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council (21 014 903)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 15-Feb-2022

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the contents of a report written by the Council’s children’s services. This is because the report has been considered during court proceedings, which places the contents outside of our jurisdiction.

Hampshire County Council (21 016 248)

Statement Upheld Other 14-Feb-2022

Summary: The Council is at fault for delaying consideration of this complaint at stage two of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council has now allocated the complaint to an independent person and will complete its stage two investigation. It has also agreed to offer to make a payment to the complainant to remedy the time and trouble its delay has caused her.

Devon County Council (21 015 346)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 09-Feb-2022

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker when Mr X wished to obtain a special guardianship order for a child. The matters complained of are not separable from a court process.