Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (18 003 028)

Category : Children's care services > Child protection

Decision : Not upheld

Decision date : 17 Apr 2019

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: Mrs M complains the Council failed to support to her when she was caring for her daughter and grandson. The Ombudsman has found no fault by the Council.

The complaint

  1. Mrs M complains the Council failed to provide help or financial support to her when she was caring for her daughter and grandson from October 2016 to October 2017.
  2. She also complains the Council’s information about her is wrong, for example it wrongly said she was inconsistent and unreliable.
  3. Mrs M says the situation was traumatic and she was poorly treated by the Council, causing stress, depression, financial hardship and a complete loss of faith in the Council.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. 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’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
  2. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I spoke to Mrs M about her complaint and considered the information she sent, the Council’s response to my enquiries and:
    • The Care Act 2014
    • The Care and Support Guidance
    • The Children Act 1989
  2. I sent Mrs M and the Council my draft decision and considered the comments I received.

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What I found

  1. The Care Act 2014 says where an individual provides care for another adult and it appears the carer may have any needs for support, local authorities must carry out a carer’s assessment. This must find out not only the carer’s needs for support, but also the sustainability of the caring role itself.
  2. Following an assessment, the council must produce a support plan which sets out the carer’s needs, and if and how the Council will meet them. The local authority may meet the carer’s needs by providing a service directly to the adult needing care.

Child protection

  1. The Children Act 1989 says councils have a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.
  2. If a local authority receives a report of concern about a child it must decide whether to initiate safeguarding enquiries under section 47 of the Act. If concerns of significant harm are substantiated following these safeguarding enquiries, an initial child protection conference will develop a child protection plan.
  3. The local authority has powers under the Act to give financial help to a child, parent or carer to safeguard and promote the child’s welfare. The help may be in the form of a loan, a cash payment or payment in kind, for example, vouchers for a particular shop or food, clothing or furniture.

What happened

  1. Mrs M does not live in the Council’s area, she lives in a neighbouring area (Council 2). She helped care for her daughter, Miss R, who has health conditions and was living with her. Miss R was a special guardian to Y. Y was living in the Council’s area with his grandfather (Mr S), who was Miss R’s former partner.
  2. In October 2016, Y came to Mrs M’s house. He said he did not want to return to Mr S’s house because Mr S had hurt him. Miss R contacted the Council which started to assess Y as a child in need. The Council became concerned that Y was at risk of significant emotional harm from Miss R and physical harm from Mr S. It started safeguarding enquiries. During this time Y continued to stay with Mrs M and Miss R.
  3. Mrs M attended an initial child protection conference on 15 December 2016 after the enquiries were completed. The conference decided that Y was at risk of emotional harm from Miss R and made him the subject of a child protection plan. The plan was for Y to be able to return to Mr S’s care safely and to be assessed for mental health support. Mrs M says the meeting was biased and she felt intimidated by the proceedings.
  4. The case records show Mrs M contacted the Council a number of times reporting she was struggling to cope with Y living at her house, due to his challenging behaviour and her daughter’s illnesses. In February 2017 she described the situation as intolerable. The Council had provided a taxi to transport Y to school, but Mrs M regularly had to drive him there. There were other times Y refused to go to school. There had also been an incident where Mr S came to the house and Mrs M had had to call the police. Mrs M also had to attend meetings in relation to Y’s child protection plan. In April 2017, Mrs M had to buy Y new clothes. The Council paid her £50 as reimbursement.
  5. Mrs M sought legal advice and told the Council Miss R and Y could no longer live with her. Miss R made a homelessness application, but continued to live with Mrs M.
  6. In August 2017 the Court directed the Council to issue care proceedings. It said Y would remain living with Miss R during the care proceedings.
  7. In September 2017, Miss R and Y moved into rented accommodation in the Council’s area.
  8. In January 2018 Mrs M complained to the Council about an incident at a meeting where Miss R had fallen ill and Mrs M had had to take emergency medication to her. The Council said the officers at the meeting had been unaware Miss R had become very ill. It agreed to put a note on Y’s file about the incident.
  9. The final court hearing was in February 2018. The judge decided the threshold for a care order under Section 31 of the Act had been met and Y should be placed into foster care.

Mrs M’s complaint

  1. In July 2018 Mrs M complained to the Council about:
        1. disability discrimination towards, and lack of reasonable adjustments for, Miss R
        2. “fabricated information” the Council had written about Y, Miss R and herself
        3. the behaviour of Y’s social worker
        4. a lack of any help or guidance from the Council
        5. inconsistencies in dates and information at meetings
        6. the professional regulation of Y’s social worker
        7. a lack of family meetings, mediation, housing or financial help for Miss R and Y
        8. the contact arrangements between Miss R and Y
  2. The Council said it was unable to respond to points 1, 3, 6, 7 or 8 as these were Miss R or Y’s complaints and Mrs M did not have parental responsibility for Y. It asked her to clarify points 2, 4 and 5. Mrs M said she had continually asked for support. She gave details of two meetings in 2017 where the Council had provided incorrect timings and locations, and one where Miss R’s and Y’s advocates had not been allowed to attend.
  3. The Council responded on 7 August 2018. It said it would not consider complaints about meetings in 2017 as these were too long ago. In addition, it could not respond to complaints about Miss R and Y’s advocates, as these were for Miss R and Y to make. It was unable to respond on the complaint about inaccurate information held about Mrs M without further details.
  4. Mrs M complained to the Ombudsman. She told me she had received no help from the Council and the situation had been traumatic. She said the Council had wrongly said she was inconsistent and unreliable in relation to taking Y to school.

My findings

  1. There is evidence Mrs M told the Council she was struggling to cope with Y and Miss R living with her. I have considered what actions the Council could or should have taken to support her.
  2. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had not carried out a carer’s assessment of Mrs M as she was not its resident. It would be for Council 2 to support her in caring for Miss R. In addition, Miss R was special guardian to Y, and the Council had not assessed Mrs M as a potential carer for Y.
  3. The Council’s position is correct. As Mrs M lives in Council 2’s area, it was for her to seek support from Council 2 as Miss R’s carer. It was therefore not fault by the Council to not assess Mrs M as a carer for Miss R and not fault to not provide her with a carer’s support plan.
  4. There is no fault in the Council’s decision that Y should continue to live with Miss R whilst it carried out safeguarding enquiries. It was not possible for Y to return to Mr S’s house at that stage. Later, the Court directed that Y continue to live with Miss R whilst care proceedings were ongoing. The Council did not have powers to force Miss R and Y to move out, even after she had applied as homeless.
  5. In relation to the Council’s support for Y and Miss R. The Council had a child protection plan in place for Y and I have seen no evidence of fault in the way this was acted on. Nonetheless, it would be for Miss R or Y to complain about the child protection plan. Miss R has made a separate complaint to the Ombudsman.
  6. Mrs M was not Y’s official carer, and has no parental responsibility for him. She was therefore not entitled to any financial support for him under the Children Act. I therefore cannot find fault with the Council for not making payments to her.
  7. In response to my draft decision, Mrs M said the Council had portrayed her as "inconsistent and unreliable", "unable to ensure Y attends school, which is of concern as (she) did not take a solution focused approach to the situation", and "the house was cluttered and unsuitable". Mrs M says these statements were incorrect and unverified. Social workers are entitled to exercise their professional skills and judgement in reaching a view during assessments. Mrs M’s disagreement with them is not evidence of fault.

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Final decision

  1. There was no fault by the Council. I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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