Summary: it is too early for the Ombudsman to consider Ms M’s complaint about financial support for her adopted son. The Council has agreed to consider Ms M’s complaint under the formal procedure set out in law for children’s complaints. We have also advised Ms M to complain to the Council for the area where she lives. Both Councils have a duty to cooperate to respond to her complaint. If she remains dissatisfied once both Councils have completed the three-stage complaints process, Ms M can complain to the Ombudsman again.

The complaint

1. Ms M complains about financial support for her adopted son, B. Ms M believes the Council should pay a regular allowance to meet B’s needs. The Council has refused. Ms M says B’s care needs mean she is unable to return to work and she faces financial hardship as a result.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we believe:

• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for a council review or appeal.

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

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How I considered this complaint

3. I have considered:
• information provided by Ms M;
• information provided by the Council;
• the Adoption and Children Act 2002, the Adoption Support Services Regulations 2005 and the Children Act 1989; and
• Getting the best from complaints. Social care complaints and representations for children, young people and others, guidance published by the (then) Department for Education and Skills in 2006
4. I invited Ms M and the Council to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

5. B is an agency adoptive child. The Council placed him with Ms M in 2015 when he was less than a year old. Ms M adopted him in 2016. Ms M does not live in Gateshead. She lives in a different council area.
6. Ms M tells me that since the adoption, B has been diagnosed with global developmental delay, autism, epilepsy and other health conditions.
7. Ms M has an older adopted child who is also disabled.
8. Ms M says she has been unable to return to work because of the demands of caring for her children. She asked the Council for financial support. The Council refused and said she should ask the council for the area where she lives.
9. Ms M thinks this is wrong. She says the Council paid her £11,700 in the first year, £7,400 in the second year, and £17 a month in the third year until she returned to work. She believes the Council should pay a regular allowance.
10. The Council says these payments were ‘one off’ payments to acknowledge delays issuing B’s Education, Health and Care Plan and arranging nursery provision. The Council says Ms M should ask the council for the area where she lives to assess her need for post-adoption support. The Council said it was no longer responsible as it was more than three years since the adoption and Ms M does not live in its area.
11. Ms M thinks this is wrong and complained to the Ombudsman.

Consideration

12. Ms M is understandably in a hurry to sort out her financial situation. The Ombudsman cannot help her yet. The law says councils must be given an opportunity to investigate a complaint and respond before the Ombudsman can consider the matter.
13. There is a formal procedure, set out in law, which councils must follow for complaints about adoption and support for children in need. It involves:
• a written response from the Council (Stage 1);
• the appointment of an independent investigator to prepare a report (Stage 2); and, if the person making the complaint requests
• an independent panel to consider their representations (Stage 3).
14. The Council confirmed that although it was aware Ms M was unhappy and had not secured financial help from the Council for the area where she lives, it had not responded to her complaint under the formal three-stage procedure. The Council offered to begin the formal complaints process.
15. If Ms M remains dissatisfied once the Council has completed all three stages of the complaints process, she may ask the Ombudsman to consider her complaint.
16. When Ms M contacted the Ombudsman, we also advised her to complain to the council for the area where she lives. This council should also follow the same three-stage process to respond to her complaint.
17. Ms M’s complaint to the Council for the area where she lives is possibly the most likely to address her concerns. If there is a dispute about which council is responsible for B’s needs, and it appears there is, then the law and Government guidance say the Councils must cooperate to respond to Ms M’s complaint. The guidance says the council in whose area the child lives should take the lead.

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Final decision

18. It is too early for the Ombudsman to consider Ms M’s complaint. The Council has agreed to consider Ms M’s complaint under the formal procedure set out in law for children’s complaints. We have also advised Ms M to complain to the Council for the area where she lives. Both Councils have a duty to cooperate to respond to her complaint. If she remains dissatisfied once both Councils have completed the three-stage complaints process, Ms M can complain to the Ombudsman again.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman