London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (25 016 794)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 17-Mar-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint that the Council failed to notify him about a court hearing. This is because it concerns the Council’s conduct as part of court proceedings and raises issues that were, or could reasonably have been, considered by the court.

Bristol City Council (25 015 458)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 16-Mar-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to Mr X’s complaint and an assessment carried out by a social worker. This is because an investigation would be unlikely to result in a different outcome.

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (25 010 328)

Statement Not upheld Adoption 03-Mar-2026

Summary: Mr X complained that the Council delayed completing stage one of the adopter application process which was then refused. He said staff were unprofessional and the process caused them distress and uncertainty. We find no fault with the Council.

Nottinghamshire County Council (25 018 169)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 03-Mar-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of the adoption application process. The Council has already investigated and responded to Mr X’s concerns under all three stages of the statutory complaint procedure. It has identified service failures, apologised and offered remedial action and payment for the injustice caused. Further investigation is unlikely to change the outcome or achieve anything worthwhile. The Information Commissioner’s Office is best placed to consider concerns about data recording and handling.

Cheshire East Council (25 014 583)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 24-Feb-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate Miss X’s complaint about the decision that her great nephew, Y, be placed for adoption with third parties. The law says we cannot investigate complaints about matters that have been considered in court proceedings. We have no discretion to do so.

Hertfordshire County Council (25 020 960)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 17-Feb-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to investigate Mrs X’s concerns about its actions relating to an adopted person. The complaint relates to matters which occurred over 12 months ago, and it is unlikely we would find fault in the Council’s decision, not to consider it.

Milton Keynes Council (24 022 016)

Statement Upheld Adoption 05-Feb-2026

Summary: There was fault in complaint handling by the Council for which it has apologised and offered an appropriate symbolic payment. The Council has agreed to complete an action plan of steps to address its delay in complaint handling. Other matters Ms X raised have been considered by the court (or could reasonably have been raised by Mrs X in court) and so we ended the investigation of them.

Cornwall Council (25 006 350)

Statement Not upheld Adoption 02-Feb-2026

Summary: We have ended our investigation into Miss X’s complaint about how Adopt South West (ASW) handled her application to access her adoption records. This is because ASW apologised to her and said it would make service improvements. Miss X has received her records and there is no further worthwhile outcome achievable by investigating further.

Luton Borough Council (24 017 797)

Statement Upheld Adoption 16-Jan-2026

Summary: Mr and Mrs X complain that although the Council agreed to provide adoption support for life for Miss Y and Miss Z it wrongly stopped allowance payments for Miss Y and reduced payments for Miss Z without any notice or communication with the family. The statutory complaints investigation upheld all of Mr and Mrs X’s complaints and found fault with the Council's actions. These faults caused significant distress and uncertainty for Mr and Mrs X and detrimentally affected their wellbeing. The Council should apologise, make payments and take action to remedy this.

Redcar & Cleveland Council (25 010 840)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 07-Jan-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about Council’s handling of matters involving her grandchild and their half-sibling in 2018 and 2019. The complaint is late and there are other bodies better placed to consider the issues raised.