Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council has considered post adoption support payments. The Council has accepted it has underpaid the complainant. It has agreed to back pay the financial support owed. Further investigation by the Ombudsman would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained the Council had not paid him the post-adoption support payments as agreed in the adoption support plan. That included not providing failing to provide payments for birthdays and Christmas. He said that had caused financial hardship.

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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 provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions an organisation has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)
3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide:

• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. We previously issued a decision about the post-adoption support the Council was paying Mr X. At the time of our investigation, the Council was paying Mr X in line with a Long-Term Fostering Agreement. That agreement did not provide support for birthdays and Christmas. In that decision, we considered decisions the Council had made about reducing certain payments. We said that any disagreement about the interpretation of the agreement was for the courts.
7. Since that decision, Mr X located an Adoption Support Plan. That plan proceeded the Foster Agreement. The Council subsequently agreed to review the adoption support it had paid Mr X.
8. Following that review, the Council confirmed Mr X had missed out on payments. It agreed to make back payments to Mr X in line with the Adoption Support Plan. Mr X accepted the back payments the Council offered.
9. As the Council has agreed to pay Mr X in line with the Adoption Support Plan and Mr X has accepted its offer, we will not investigate this complaint. That is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. We will also not investigate any disagreement about how the Council has interpreted the agreement. That is because we have already considered these matters therefore the complaint is invalid. If Mr X disagrees with the interpretation of the agreement, that would be a matter for the courts.

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Final decision

10. We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint because the Council has remedied the injustice caused and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman