Summary: The Council has accepted fault in that it did not carry out a parent/carer’s needs assessment as requested by the complainant. The complainant did not consider the Council recognised the avoidable distress which this had caused her and her family. We have recommended a way to remedy that injustice which the Council has accepted. Therefore, we have completed our investigation and are closing the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X complained that the Council failed to undertake a parent carer’s needs assessment between June to October 2023 even though Mrs X had asked for one.
2. Mrs X says that, at the time, her disabled daughter, Y, was not attending school, was isolated in her bedroom and was suffering from a sleep disorder. Mrs X was also caring for two other younger children who were upset by seeing their sibling in such a distressed state. One of her younger children also has very high support needs, requiring twenty-four-hour care provided solely by Mrs X.
3. Mrs X also says she also has her own ill-health causing pain and mobility issues. This is why she wanted a parent carer’s needs assessment because she was struggling with her caring responsibilities.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this report, we have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in how the organisation made its decision, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. We 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).
6. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).
7. 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(1), as amended).

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What I have and have not investigated

8. I am only investigating the failure to carry out a parent carer’s needs assessment between June and October 2023. Mrs X has made further complaints about a subsequent failure to carry out such an assessment in February 2024. But I am not including this subsequent failure when assessing any injustice.
9. The Council considered Mrs X’s June 2023 complaint under the Children Act 1989 statutory complaints procedure. At stage two, it upheld this complaint, and also at stage three.
10. Mrs X was dissatisfied because the Council did not provide an appropriate remedy.

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How I considered this complaint

11. I considered evidence provided by the Council and I spoke to the complainant on the telephone as well as considering her written information. I have also considered relevant law, policy and guidance, set out below.
12. Because the Council accepted fault, I have considered the extent of the injustice and what might be a suitable remedy.
13. I issued a draft decision statement to Mrs X and the Council. I have taken into account their further comments before I reached a final decision.

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What I found

14. The Children Act 1989, section 17, requires councils to safeguard and promote the welfare of ‘children in need’ in their area, including disabled children, by providing appropriate services for them. All disabled children are regarded as ‘children in need’ and entitled to an assessment under section 17.
15. The Chronically Sick and Disabled Person’s Act (CSDPA) 1970, section 2, requires councils, when undertaking an assessment of a child under section 17 of the Children Act 1989, to consider whether it is necessary to provide support of the type referred to in section 2.
16. Services which can be provided under section 2 CSDPA include:

• practical assistance in the home including home based short breaks / respite care;
• recreational / educational facilities including community based short breaks; and
• travel and other assistance.

Assessment of need

17. The expectation of ‘Working Together’ is that an assessment which identifies significant needs will generally lead to the provision of services, but it is not required to meet every assessed need. Whether a service is required is dependent on the nature and extent of the need assessed and the consequences of not providing a service. Councils may use eligibility criteria and take into account their available resources when providing services under section 17 of the Children Act.
18. If a council is satisfied it is ‘necessary’ to provide support services under section 2 of the CSDPA then services must be provided regardless of the council’s resources.
19. Assessments should take account of the needs of the whole family. While some services may be offered directly to the disabled child, services may also be offered under section 17 to parents or siblings.

Parent/carer’s needs assessment

20. The Children Act 1989 places specific duties on councils to assess the needs of carers with parental responsibility for disabled children as well as young carers. Councils have an obligation to assess parent carers on the ‘appearance of need’ (Children Act 1989, section 17ZD/E), or if an assessment is requested by the parent, and to provide a written copy of the assessment to the parent carer.
21. A parent carer’s needs assessment must include an assessment of whether it is appropriate for the parent carer to provide, or continue to provide, care for the disabled child, in light of the parent carer’s needs for support, other needs and wishes.
22. To consider a parent carer’s wellbeing, councils must consider their:

• physical and mental health and their emotional wellbeing;
• ability to work, education, recreation or training;
• social and economic wellbeing; and
• family and other personal relationships.

Statutory children’s complaints

23. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. The accompanying statutory guidance, ‘Getting the Best from Complaints’, explains councils’ responsibilities in more detail. We also published practitioner guidance on the procedures, setting out our expectations.
24. The first stage of the procedure is local resolution. Councils have up to 20 working days to respond.
25. If a complainant is not happy with a council’s stage one response, they can ask that it is considered at stage two. At this stage of the procedure, councils appoint an investigating officer (IO) to look into the complaint and an independent person (IP) who is responsible for overseeing the investigation and ensuring its independence.
26. The whole stage two process should be completed within 25 working days, but guidance allows an extension for up to 65 working days where required.
27. If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage two investigation, they can ask for a stage three review by an independent panel. The council must hold the panel within 30 working days of the date of request and then issue a final response within 20 working days of the panel hearing.

Key facts

28. In June 2023, Mrs X made a referral to the Council’s children services because Y was so distressed and sleeping excessively. Mrs X says that Y’s General Practitioner (GP) had ruled out any physical problem, but the GP had chased up the planned autism assessment.
29. Mrs X says the stress on her in caring for Y was very draining, and she was having problems coping with the demands of caring for Y and her two younger children. Hence, Mrs X approached the Council seeking help.
30. The Council agreed to carry out a child in need assessment of Y and completed this. Mrs X says that she asked for a carer’s assessment on four occasions during this process.
31. In October 2023, Mrs X complained that there still had not been a parent/carer’s assessment. At stage one, the Council upheld this complaint. Mrs X says that the Council told her to approach a particular organisation (Agency Z), who it said could complete a carer’s assessment. In November 2023, the Council closed Y’s case.
32. Mrs X approached Agency Z. She was told that it only carried out assessments of carers looking after disabled adults. Therefore, it could not provide Mrs X with a carer’s assessment because she was looking after a child.
33. Mrs X asked her complaint to be escalated to stage two of the statutory complaints’ procedure, including other complaints in addition to the lack of a carer’s assessment. The Council completed a stage two investigation in November 2024 with a stage three panel decision in January 2025.
34. The Council upheld most of Mrs X’s complaints including the failure to complete a carer’s assessment. It offered a symbolic payment of £500 in recognition of the ‘distress, delay and poor communication’. Mrs X considered that this did not include any recognition, or remedy, for the accepted failure to undertake a parent/carer’s assessment. Mrs X complained to the Ombudsman.
35. Mrs X says that it is too late to undertake a carer’s assessment now as a remedy for the injustice. She says that, had the Council completed a carer’s assessment in 2023, she would have asked for a personal budget to buy in some support for herself.

The Council’s response to enquiries

36. The Council says that a parent carer’s assessment is completed within the single assessment (although this did not happen for Mrs X) and this has been the established practice. There is written guidance for social workers. Although the guidance is comprehensive about assessing a child’s needs, there seems to be less emphasis on assessing the parent/carer’s needs.
37. The Council says that more parents/carers are asking for assessments. So, the Council has decided to develop a standalone assessment as from December 2025.
38. The Council says that, had the Council completed an assessment of Mrs X, the Council would have proposed support in the form of signposting Mrs X to possible support groups. It would not have offered financial support.

Findings

39. The Council has accepted fault that it did not carry out a parent/carer’s needs assessment. I endorse that finding.
40. Moreover, the Council has recognised that it needs to update its guidance to social workers, so there will be standalone assessments of parents/carers where required. This should improve practice and ensure in future that the Council considers parents/carers’ needs and how best to help them care for their disabled children.
41. But a key question is what injustice has been caused to Mrs X by the Council’s 2023 accepted fault? This is difficult to assess because it is somewhat speculative. The Council is clear that any assessment in 2023 would not have led to direct payments to Mrs X so that she could ‘buy’ in the support she thought would help her in her caring duties.
42. I cannot say exactly what support would have been provided in 2023 had the Council considered Mrs X’s needs. The most I can say is that there was a lost opportunity to consider Mrs X’s needs and possible ways that might have helped her in her significant caring duties.

Action

43. Our primary aim is to put people back in the position they would have been in if the fault by the council had not occurred.
44. When this is not possible, we may recommend the council makes a symbolic payment. Where that takes the form of a payment, it is often a modest amount whose value is intended to be largely symbolic rather than purely financial. We also support organisational learning and improvements to help others.
45. We expect senior officers from councils to make effective, timely and specific apologies for the faults we have identified.
46. In respect of Mrs X’s personal injustice, there is no purpose in recommending an assessment now because Mrs X has explained that it is too late in respect of Y.
47. The Council has agreed that, within one month of the final statement, it will:
1. apologise in writing to Mrs X in line with our guidance; and
2. make a symbolic payment of £500 (in addition to what has already been offered) in recognition of the lost opportunity to assess her support needs in 2023.
48. I am not recommending any service improvements because the Council has now agreed to make parent/carer’s needs assessment a standalone assessment which should help social workers focus both on the child and parent/carer’s needs. But it would be helpful if the Council could provide any written guidance accompanying this development.
49. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Decision

50. I agree with the Council that there is fault, and my view is that this has caused injustice. I have recommended a way to remedy this which the Council has accepted. Therefore, I am closing the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman