Summary: Mr D complains the Council has not properly investigated his complaint about a social worker’s assessment that led to his de-registration as a foster carer. There is no fault in the way the Council dealt with his complaint. I have ended my investigation as I cannot achieve anything further. This is because Mr D had an opportunity to challenge the assessment at the fostering panel and IRM. I cannot overturn their decisions and nor can I act as an appeal against the outcome of the assessment nor consider the professional conduct of social workers.

The complaint

1. Mr D complains the Council has not properly investigated his complaint about a social worker’s assessment that led to his de-registration as a foster carer. As a result he has been caused significant distress and no longer feels able to volunteer to work with children.

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What I have and have not investigated

2. I have considered Mr D’s complaint about the way the Council has dealt with his complaint. I have discontinued the investigation into his concerns about the social worker’s assessment and the fostering panel’s and IRM’s decision-making.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide:

• there is not enough evidence of fault to justify investigating, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or
• it would be reasonable for the person to ask for an organisation review or appeal.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6))

4. We consider whether there was fault in the way an organisation made its decision. If there was no fault in the decision making, we cannot question the outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
5. We investigate complaints about councils and certain other bodies. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 25 and 34A, as amended)
6. We cannot investigate a complaint if it is about a personnel issue. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5a, paragraph 4, as amended)
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(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I spoke to Mr D about his complaint and considered the information he sent and the Council’s response to my enquiries.
• Statutory Guidance Getting the best from complaints
• Statutory Guidance Working together to safeguard children
9. Mr D 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

De-registering foster carers

10. Councils may only place children with approved foster carers. Councils assess and use a specialist fostering panel to approve carers. A panel is chaired by a person who is independent of the council and consists of at least three people with appropriate experience and expertise.
11. Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 sets out that councils have a duty to investigate if there is reasonable cause to suspect a child in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. The Working Together guidance says councils should appoint a Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) to manage investigations into allegations against foster carers.
12. If there has been an allegation against a foster carer and a council has reasonable cause to suspect the child is suffering significant harm, it will carry out an investigation under section 47. The investigation concludes when the LADO has considered the evidence and decides whether the allegation is:
• Substantiated - sufficient evidence to prove the allegation that a child has been harmed or there is a risk of harm;
• Unsubstantiated - insufficient evidence to either prove or disprove the allegation. The term, therefore, does not imply guilt or innocence;
• Unfounded - where there is no evidence or proper basis which supports the allegation being made;
• False - there is sufficient evidence to disprove the allegation; or
• Malicious - there is sufficient evidence to disprove the allegation and there has been a deliberate act to deceive.
13. As soon as possible after an investigation into a foster carer is concluded, their approval as suitable to foster is reviewed by the fostering panel. If the fostering panel recommends someone should no longer be a foster carer, the council (“agency decision maker”) will then decide whether to accept that recommendation.
14. Foster carers may ask the council’s agency decision maker or the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) to review a fostering panel’s to de-register them. The IRM is a panel that is independent of the fostering service provider or council.
15. The IRM does not have the power to overturn a decision by the fostering service provider but it may make a fresh recommendation to the fostering provider on the carer’s suitability to foster a child or the terms of the approval and the council must take account of its recommendation.
16. If a carer decides to use this process there is no right of appeal. Any complaints about the IRM’s process are made through the IRM and ultimately to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, as the IRM is the responsibility of the Department for Education not the council.

Complaints about children’s care services

17. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. This process is used if a foster carer complains about services provided to a child under part 3 of the Children Act 1989, but foster carer registration is usually excluded from the statutory process.
18. This means councils may deal with complaints from foster carers about their registration under their own complaints policies. Buckinghamshire Council’s complaint policy says it will not investigate complaints about foster care registration as there is an alternative appeal process for that through the IRM.

What happened

19. Mr D and his wife had been approved as foster carers. In October 2021 there was a section 47 investigation following concerns that a child they were caring for may be suffering significant harm. The Council removed the child from Mr and Mrs D’s care.
20. The LADO concluded that the allegation was substantiated and the Council referred Mr and Mrs D to the fostering panel. The panel met in March 2022 and recommended Mr and Mrs D be de-registered
21. Mr and Mrs D appealed to the IRM. It met in August 2022 and recommended they be de-registered.
22. Mr and Mrs D complained to the Council about the quality of the section 47 investigation, which they said was biased and wrong, and about the decisions made by the fostering panel and IRM.
23. The Council replied to their correspondence in September 2022 but it did not consider their concerns under its complaints’ procedure. The Council’s agency decision maker de-registered Mr and Mrs D as foster carers. Mr D came to the Ombudsman.

My findings

24. There is no evidence of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider Mr D’s complaint under its complaint process. The Council was entitled to decide to do this as it is in line with their policy. There is no fault in that policy as Parliament has set out a separate appeal process for foster carers to use about decisions about their registration.
25. The Ombudsman cannot investigate how the IRM reached its decision as it is an independent body beyond our remit. The Council was entitled to accept the IRM’s recommendations and I have seen no evidence of fault in the way it did this.
26. I cannot achieve anything from further investigation. This is because Mr and Mrs D had an opportunity to challenge the section 47 report at the fostering panel and IRM. I cannot overturn their decisions and nor can I act as an appeal against the outcome of the section 47 investigation nor consider the professional conduct of social workers.
27. As I can achieve nothing further, I have ended my investigation into that element of Mr D’s complaint.

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Final decision

28. There was no fault in the Council’s decision not to consider Mr and Mrs D’s complaint under its complaint procedure. I intend to discontinue my investigation into how Mr and Mrs D were de-registered as foster carers as I can achieve nothing further. I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman