Summary: Miss X complains the Council has not dealt with child protection concerns properly. The Council is not at fault.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss X, complains that the Council has not dealt with child protection relating to her children properly because they were subject to unnecessary child protection proceedings as a result of the Council not accepting her son Y was unable to attend school because of health issues.
2. Miss X says she has suffered avoidable distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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

4. I spoke to Miss X about her complaint and considered documents she provided. I made enquiries of the Council and considered its response and the supporting documents it provided.
5. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Law, guidance and policies

6. Councils have a duty to investigate if there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. They must decide whether they should take any action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare. (Children Act 1989, section 47)
7. Councils have a duty to investigate if there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. They must decide whether they should take any action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare. (Children Act 1989, section 47)
8. Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to children’s social care and should do so immediately if there is a concern that the child is suffering significant harm or is likely to do so.

The council should make initial enquiries of agencies involved with the child and family, for example, health visitor, GP, schools and nurseries. The information gathering at this stage enables the council to assess the nature and level of any harm the child may be facing. The assessment may result in:

• no further action;
• a decision to carry out a more detailed assessment of the child’s needs; or
• a decision to convene a strategy meeting.

Section 47 of the Act places a duty on agencies, but mainly the council and the police, to make “such enquiries as they consider necessary to enable them to decide whether to take action to safeguard or promote the welfare of a child in their area”.

If the information gathered under section 47 supports concerns and the child may remain at risk of significant harm the social worker will arrange an initial child protection conference (ICPC). The ICPC decides what action is needed to safeguard the child. This might include making the child a ‘child in need’ (CiN) and implementing a safety plan.

9. If, following a referral and an assessment by a social worker, a multi-agency strategy meeting decides the concerns are substantiated and the child is likely to suffer significant harm, the council convenes a Child Protection Conference.

The Child Protection Conference decides what action is needed to safeguard the child. This may include a recommendation that the child should be supported by a Child Protection Plan.

After the Initial Child Protection Conference, there will be one or more Review Child Protection Conferences to consider progress on action taken to safeguard the child and whether the Child Protection Plan should be maintained, amended, or discontinued.

Review Child Protection Conferences should be held within three months of the initial conference, and thereafter at maximum intervals of six months.

The Child Protection Conference is a multi-agency body and is not in itself a body in the Ombudsman's jurisdiction.

The Child Protection Conference plays an advisory role. But the final decision, for example whether to place a child on a Child Protection Plan or to discontinue a Plan, is the responsibility of the council. We would generally consider it appropriate for a council to follow the recommendations of the Child Protection Conference unless there was good reason not to.

10. The statutory guidance on child safeguarding, ‘Working together to safeguard children’, says after the ICPC, the council should convene a core group meeting within 10 working days. The core group is made up of key family members and professionals involved with the child and/or family. Its purpose is to:
• further develop the child protection plan;
• facilitate the in-depth assessment to inform decisions about the child’s welfare; and
• implement the child protection plan.

What happened?

11. This is a brief chronology of key events. It does not contain everything I reviewed during my investigation.
12. The Council received a referral about one of Miss X’s children, Y, not attending school. The Council undertook child protection proceedings. Miss X’s children Y and Z were both placed on Child Protection plans.
13. Z was stepped down to a Child in Need (CIN) plan in November 2021.
14. Y was stepped down to a CIN plan in May 2022.

Analysis

15. This investigation runs parallel to investigation 22 001 023. The full details of Miss X’s complaint about provision of alternative education are set out there.
16. The Council received a referral about miss X’s son Y not attending school in October 2020.
17. The Council assessed the referral and decided the threshold for enquiries was met. An initial Child Protection Conference was convened in January 2021. Further Child Protection Conferences were held in March 2021, September 2021, November 2021 and May 2022.
18. Core group meetings were held at regular intervals.
19. I have seen minutes from the Child Protection Conferences and the Core Group meetings. Continuing concerns were raised about Y’s non-attendance at school and the lack of engagement from Miss X.
20. The Council followed the correct process and had all relevant documents available to it when it considered child protection issues relating to Y and Z. This is not fault by the Council.
21. Although I have found no fault with the child protection processes as part of this investigation, the Council has agreed in the related Ombudsman investigation that it should have made alternative education provision for Y in April 2021. That investigation found that on the balance of probabilities, if the Council had made alternative education provision for Y in April 2021, the child protection proceedings would have been stepped down earlier in April 2021, instead of May 2022.

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Final decision

22. I have not found fault by the Council. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman