Summary: Mrs B complained that the Council acted inappropriately by telling her former foster children’s birth family that it was concerned she may attend their mother’s funeral despite there being no grounds to reach this conclusion. The Ombudsman found no grounds to criticise the Council.

The complaint

1. Mrs B complains that the Council acted inappropriately by telling her former foster children’s birth family that it was concerned she may turn up at their mother’s funeral despite there being no grounds to reach this conclusion. She says this caused her a great deal of distress and upset. She also says she made a complaint to the Council about this which it acknowledged but failed to provide a substantive response.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
3. 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

4. I have considered all the information provided by Mrs B, made enquiries of the Council and considered its comments and the documents it provided.
5. Mrs B 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

Key facts

6. Mrs B had been a foster carer for children who were removed from her care. She made a complaint to the Council at the time. The Council investigated and issued a final response.
7. Sometime later the children’s mother died. Mrs B became aware of this and wrote to the Council asking it to pass on her condolences to the children. Professionals involved with the children were concerned that, having found out about the mother’s death through a member of the family, Mrs B was still in contact with the family and may attend the funeral. They were concerned that this would be upsetting for the children.
8. Some months later, a relative of the children contacted Mrs B and told her that Social Services had been concerned that she may attend the funeral. Mrs B says there were no grounds for Social Services to reach this conclusion and this caused her a great deal of distress and upset, particularly in light of past events concerning the children’s removal from her care.
9. In response to my enquiries, the Council has provided copies of various emails between professionals which show there were concerns that Mrs B would attend the funeral and that this would cause the children distress and confusion.
10. Although Mrs B says she had no intention of attending the funeral and there was no reason for Social Services to believe she would do so, officers must put the children’s well-being first. They were entitled to consider whether Mrs B was likely to attend and reach their own judgement on this. It was also a matter for their professional judgement whether to inform the family of their concerns. In the absence of administrative fault, it is not the Ombudsman’s role to question the merits of their decision.

Mrs B’s complaint to the Council

11. Mrs B complained to the Ombudsman in October 2020. We sent a copy of the complaint to the Council and asked whether it had completed the Council’s complaints process. The Council said it had no record of receiving a recent complaint from Mrs B. We therefore decided the complaint was premature and advised Mrs B to complain to the Council.
12. Mrs B complained to the Council in November 2020. She says it acknowledged the complaint but did not provide a substantive response.
13. In May 2021 the Council wrote to the Ombudsman stating that further enquiries were being made into Mrs B’s complaint. It is not clear why the Council did this. But, as it was clear the Council had not yet completed an investigation despite several months having passed since Mrs B’s initial contact with us, we decided to investigate her complaint.
14. In response to my enquiries, the Council said it had no record of receiving a complaint from Mrs B in November 2020, either on its complaints database or the children’s files.
15. Mrs B has now provided copies of emails which prove she did make a complaint to the Council in November 2020 and the Council responded saying it believed the complaint was the same as the one she had made previously which was answered at the time. It asked Mrs B to confirm whether this was a new and different complaint or the same complaint as submitted previously. Mrs B responded stating that the issues she had raised with the Ombudsman were the same issues she had previously raised with the Council, but they had further progressed as the children’s relative had recently informed her that social services had raised concerns about her attending the funeral.
16. As Mrs B confirmed to the Council that the issues raised were the same as she had raised previously, there are no grounds to criticise it for failing to consider the complaint further.

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Final decision

17. I do not uphold Mrs B’s complaint.
18. I have completed my investigation on the basis I am satisfied with the Council’s actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman