Plymouth City Council (19 005 795)

Category : Children's care services > Adoption

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 05 Sep 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint the Council has failed to follow correct procedures for considering them as prospective adopters. This is because there is another agency better placed to consider the central issue and the Ombudsman cannot achieve the result Mrs B wants.

The complaint

  1. Mrs B says the Council has failed to follow correct procedures for considering them as prospective adopters and the complaints procedure has failed to provide the explanations and process improvements they have been seeking for the Council not proceeding with their application.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’ which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse effect on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:
  • it is unlikely further investigation will lead to a different outcome, or
  • we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
  • there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I considered what Mrs B said in her complaint and discussed it with her by telephone.

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What I found

  1. Mr and Mrs B applied to the Council to be prospective adoptive parents. The Council refused their application and gave them the option of applying to the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) run on behalf of the Secretary of State, or of challenging its decision directly with the Council. Mr and Mrs B took the latter course, and the Council provided a final response to their complaint in July 2019.
  2. But the response only addressed some procedural matters, not the central matter in the complaint which was Mr and Mrs B’s disagreement with the Council’s decision on their application.
  3. It is now too late for Mr and Mrs B to apply to the IRM about the original decision, but I understand the Council has told them it is open to them to apply again to become prospective adopters. The Council, through the relevant adoption agency, will decide their application and give them a fresh right to apply to the IRM. The Government website sets out more information about this.
  4. The Ombudsman could not change the result for Mr and Mrs B even if we investigated. The IRM is an agency better placed, and specially empowered to decide whether the Council has properly considered and decided Mr and Mrs B’s application.

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Final decision

  1. The Ombudsman will not investigate Mrs B’s complaint because there is another agency better placed to consider the central issue and the Ombudsman cannot achieve the result Mrs B wants.

Investigator’s final decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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