London Borough of Bexley (25 014 162)

Statement Upheld Other 21-Jul-2026

Summary: The Council was at fault for considering Mr X’s complaint through the wrong process (the children’s statutory complaints procedure). It then failed to properly consider the complaint at stage two and stage three of the children’s statutory complaints procedure in line with the relevant law and statutory guidance. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X, pay him a financial remedy and reconsider his complaint. It has also agreed to create an action plan to prevent similar fault occurring in the future.

Westminster City Council (25 007 659)

Statement Upheld Other 21-Jul-2026

Summary: Ms B complained that the Council delayed in completing a stage two investigation of her complaint about children’s services. We found the Council delayed by about five months which has caused Ms B frustration. The Council has offered to make a symbolic payment of £150 which we consider is a reasonable remedy. It has also agreed to complete the investigation and apologise to her.

Birmingham City Council (26 003 180)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 21-Jul-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about information the Council provided during court proceedings. This is because the law prevents us from investigating complaints about what happens in court.

Blackpool Borough Council (26 000 296)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 21-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to carry out a child and family assessment for Mrs Y, and the Council not providing any financial support or guidance to Mrs X. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault for the first part of complaint, for the remaining part, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Southend-on-Sea City Council (26 009 662)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 21-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate X’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with a child. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to investigate their complaint because X does not have parental responsibility for the child.

Suffolk County Council (25 021 654)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 20-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s involvement with her children. There is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s recent handling of her children’s case to justify our involvement. Other parts of Miss X’s complaints are late and could have been brought to us sooner.

Kent County Council (25 022 165)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 20-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that the Council did not check its records to confirm if Mr X had parental responsibility, failed to consult him when undertaking assessments and failed to safeguard his child. This is because it is unlikely an investigation would add to the Council’s response, there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation, and it is unlikely we will find fault.

Manchester City Council (25 013 216)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 20-Jul-2026

Summary: We find no fault in the way the Council handled Miss X’s complaint about lack of respite care for her foster child. The Council found fault and injustice, apologised, made a payment to Miss X, and improved its service, as the statutory complaint investigation recommended. The Council has agreed to make a further payment to remedy some outstanding injustice.

City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (25 023 288)

Statement Upheld Child protection 20-Jul-2026

Summary: We upheld Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of the children’s statutory complaints procedure. The Council agreed to resolve the complaint early by issuing an apology and paying Mr X a symbolic payment to acknowledge the injustice caused.

Lancashire County Council (25 023 867)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 20-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of Miss X’s child’s school or how the Council responded to a complaint about a safeguarding matter. We cannot investigate what happens in schools and we will not investigate the Council’s investigation into a safeguarding concern because there is insufficient evidence of fault.