Summary: Miss X complained the Council failed to properly explain Section 20 of the Children Act and ignored her request to cease accommodating the children under Section 20 of the Act. We found there was no fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained the Council failed to properly explain Section 20 of the Children Act to her and it ignored a written request to withdraw consent she had given to her children being accommodated under Section 20 of the Act. She says, as a result, the children were removed from her care for longer than necessary and this was distressing for both her and the children.

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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’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
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 considered Miss X’s complaint and the information she provided. I asked the Council for information and considered its response to the complaint.
5. Mrs 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

The Children Act 1989

6. Section 46 of the Act allows the police to remove a child and to provide emergency accommodation if they have reason to believe they would otherwise come to significant harm. This is known as police protection. As soon as reasonably practicable, the police should inform the local authority.
7. Section 47 of the Act states that when a local authority is told that a child in their area is the subject of police protection, or where the local authority has reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or is likely to suffer harm, it should make enquiries to enable it to safeguard the child’s welfare.
8. Section 20 of the Act states that a local authority shall provide accommodation for a child who requires it if no-one has parental responsibility for them, they have become lost or been abandoned or if the person who has been caring for them is prevented from doing so.
9. Section 20(7) states that accommodation under this part of the Act may not be provided if someone with parental responsibility for them objects to it. Section 20(8) says that any person with parental responsibility for a child may, at any time, remove their child from accommodation provided under this part of the Act.

What Happened

10. In Autumn 2023, a police visit to Miss X’s property found her young children were at home alone. The police arrested Miss X and took the children into police protection. They notified the Council of what happened.
11. The Council says at the time of her arrest Miss X could not identify family members or other adults who could look after the children., As a result, the Council found an emergency foster care placement for Miss X’s children.
12. Miss X was subject to bail conditions which stated she could not have unsupervised contact with her children unless social services had given prior approval.
13. The Council visited Miss X two days later, after the weekend. They discussed what had happened and Miss X signed a consent form to agree to her children being accommodated by the Council under Section 20 of the Children Act. The consent form contained a list of points that gave advice and information. The list confirmed that Miss X was signing to agree that the social worker had discussed the need for Section 20 accommodation with her.
14. At a further social worker visit four days after the incident, a social worker contact with Miss X recorded that Miss X felt that taking her children was excessive and that the Section 20 process was not explained in detail. The record stated, although Miss X was apprehensive about the situation, she still agreed to cooperate.
15. Several supervised visits took place and the Council began discussions with Miss X about other family members or adults who could offer support with supervising her contact with the children.
16. Miss X told us that she made a written request to withdraw consent for the accommodation of her children. The Council provided a copy of this. It was sent around two weeks after the police found the children home alone. Miss X was still subject to bail conditions at that time preventing her from having unsupervised contact with her children. Three days later, the Council carried out a risk assessment of a relative’s home and agreed that Miss X and the children could live there, where their contact could be supervised to meet bail conditions.
17. The Council told us the risk assessment visit took place on a Friday and the children were re-united with Miss X at the relative’s house the next working day (the following Monday).
18. Miss X’s bail conditions were removed some days later, after the Council had ceased accommodating Miss X’s children.

Was there fault by the Council

19. We found the Council was not at fault.
20. The initial removal of Miss X’s children was carried out by the police. When the Council became involved, they found foster care for Miss X’s children and discussed the situation with her. Records show that Miss X received information and signed a consent form indicating she had discussed and agreed to Section 20 accommodation of the children at an early stage.
21. While I recognise Miss X was worried about the children not being with her, her bail conditions were such that she could not have the children living with her without supervision. So, the reasons for the Council finding suitable foster care were clear as Miss X was prevented from looking after them on her own.
22. When Miss X did notify the Council she was withdrawing her consent in writing, the Council acted promptly on this after risk assessing a relative’s home. A risk assessment was necessary because Miss X’s bail conditions were still in place at that time. The children were returned to Miss X promptly following the risk assessment. This ended Section 20 accommodation.
23. I found no fault in the Council’s actions.

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Final decision

24. There was no fault by the Council.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman