Newcastle upon Tyne City Council (25 031 728)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 07-Jul-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the conduct of the Council’s Independent Reviewing Officer and information they provided in court. The law prevents us from investigating what happened in court. Also, the complaint concerns issues that could reasonably have been considered by the court.

North Lincolnshire Council (25 021 043)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 05-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s adoption preparation training course. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault to warrant an investigation.

Leeds City Council (25 022 333)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 28-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of an adoption process. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons for us to exercise discretion to consider it now.

Surrey County Council (25 024 758)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 21-Jun-2026

Summary:Miss X complains that the Council failed to inform her about the breakdown of her child’s adoptive placement. She says the Council said she could not be located at the time during the subsequent court proceedings. She also complains about the conduct of social workers. Miss X wants the Council to apologise for not informing her and to provide details about care proceedings for her child since the adoption broke down.

West Northamptonshire Council (25 007 897)

Statement Not upheld Adoption 11-Jun-2026

Summary: We will discontinue our investigation into Mrs X’s complaint about how the Council’s children’s social care service dealt with her daughter’s case. Her daughter is now an adult and has not provided any consent for us to investigate the complaint. Although we could investigate part of the complaint – about Mrs X’s own alleged injustice – anyway, we would not be able to disclose any information to her and there is not enough evidence of fault or injustice to justify taking this approach.

Lancashire County Council (25 021 437)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 04-Jun-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint that the Council has refused to provide information regarding the complainant’s child’s adoption, and has declined to consider his subsequent complaint. The complaint is not separable from matters which have been subject to court action, and the law prevents us from investigating what happens as part of court proceedings.

London Borough of Ealing (24 015 544)

Statement Upheld Adoption 27-May-2026

Summary: Mr and Mrs X complained that the London Boroughs of Ealing, Hounslow and Southwark failed to manage properly the proposed adoptive placement with them. This led to them not having a child placed with them, as they had expected. We find some fault causing avoidable distress, grief and time and trouble for the complainants. The Councils have agreed the recommended ways to remedy their injustice, and to implement service improvements to prevent a recurrence of faults in this case. We have therefore completed our investigation and are closing the complaint.

Plymouth City Council (25 009 498)

Statement Not upheld Adoption 21-May-2026

Summary: Mr X complained about the recommendations following the statutory complaint procedure and said the Council has not completed the recommendations. Mr X said this distressed him. There was no fault in how the Council completed the statutory complaint’s procedure, so we have no grounds to question or reinvestigate its findings. The Council made a merits based decision on the content of the letter to Y and completed the actions from the statutory complaints procedure within a reasonable timescale. The Council was not at fault.

Leicestershire County Council (25 018 286)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Adoption 21-Apr-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the conduct of a social worker and adoption assessment. This is because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

West Northamptonshire Council (25 006 286)

Statement Upheld Adoption 14-Apr-2026

Summary: Mr X complained about the Council’s actions in relation to his adoption case. The Council was at fault as it did not investigate Mr X’s complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure, causing uncertainty. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr X and investigate his complaint under the children’s statutory complaints procedure.