Summary: Mr X complains about the way the Council dealt with him and his wife, Mrs X, as foster carers. The Council was at fault for poor communication and delaying in completing a foster carer reassessment. This caused Mr and Mrs X frustration and uncertainty. The Council will apologise and make a payment to Mr and Mrs X to remedy this injustice.

The complaint

1. Mr X complains about the way the Council dealt with him and his wife, Mrs X, as foster carers, he says the Council:

1. failed to follow the advice of the agency decision maker that only a new Form F should be updated and wrongly decided to complete a full re-assessment of them as foster carers;
2. delayed in completing a fostering re-assessment and reapproving them as foster carers;
3. wrongly asked an independent social worker to complete this assessment and failed to tell them about this.

2. Mr X says this has caused him and his wife distress. He also says this impacted them financially as they could not care for other children until the matter was dealt with and so they lost earnings.

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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(1), as amended)
4. 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 future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

6. I considered evidence provided by Mr X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
7. Mr X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Legislation and guidance

Fostering assessments

8. Part 5 of the 2011 Fostering Services Regulations relates to the assessment of foster carers. It says a council must carry out an assessment which is then referred to a Fostering Panel.
9. A Form F assessment is a detailed fostering assessment designed to provide a complete, in-depth and accurate overview of a foster carer’s family and home life. It includes health assessments, financial checks and references.
10. A less detailed Household Review assessment is used to review the suitability of foster carers. They are usually completed annually as part of a routine foster carer review process.

Department for Education Assessment and approval of foster carers: Amendments to the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 4: Fostering Services

11. Approval of all foster carers must be reviewed, and a decision about suitability made, within a year of approval, and thereafter whenever it is felt necessary.
12. The review must consider whether the foster carer and their household continue to be suitable. The fostering service must make whatever enquiries it considers necessary to inform this judgement, which may include checks in relation to any new members of the household.

Tameside Children's Services Procedures Manual - the fostering panel

13. The procedures manual says the fostering panel carries out a rigorous quality assurance function and promotes thorough assessments, support and training for foster carers.
14. As part of this function, the panel oversees the conduct of assessments and annual reviews of approved foster carers. The panel makes recommendations on the suitability of applicants to act as foster carers and terms of their approval and the continued suitability of the foster carers and whether the terms of the approval remain appropriate.

The agency decision maker (ADM)

15. The fostering service must identify a senior member of council staff (usually referred to as the agency decision maker) who will receive the panel’s recommendations and make decisions as required.
16. Regulation 27 of the Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 requires that the decision maker must take account of the fostering panel’s recommendation before deciding whether or not to approve a person as a foster carer, and on what terms.

Tameside Children's Services Procedures Manual - the other members of the foster carer’s household

17. The procedures manual says checks must be made on any person that joins the foster carers household.
18. The required detail of the assessment will depend on the extent to which the new member of the household will undertake a caring role in relation to any child placed. Where the new member of the household will play a part in caring for the child in the placement, consideration will be given to the need for a full Form F assessment. Otherwise, the assessment will be considered at a Foster Carer Review which should be convened to consider the change in the foster carer's circumstances.

National Minimum Fostering Standards

19. Standards of care in fostering refer to the expected level of care and professional conduct from foster carers and fostering services, outlined in national standards and regulations to ensure the child's welfare is prioritised.
20. It says:

• Standard 2: Promoting a positive identity, potential and valuing diversity through individualised care.
• Standard 3: Promoting positive behaviour and relationships.
• Standard 4: Safeguarding children
• Standard 6: Promoting good health and wellbeing.

21. The National Fostering Minimum Standards 2011 (NFMS) Paragraph 22.8 says a foster carer’s approval should be reviewed as soon as possible after an investigation has concluded, including into practice concerns.

What happened?

22. Mr and Mrs X have been self-employed foster carers for many years.
23. In mid-July 2023, the Council held a fostering panel review meeting. Council records noted this was a result of concerns about Mr and Mrs X’s practice as foster carers.
24. The meeting minutes noted the panel chair told Mr and Mrs X it recommended continuing approval with the same terms, but the Council should, as a priority, update the Form F assessment to:

• reflect changes in their household;
• explore in depth their ability to work with professionals;
• explore their capacity to care for children from any background; and
• explore national minimum standards 2,3,6 and 4.

25. Shortly after this, the ADM wrote to Mr and Mrs X noting they agreed with the panel decision for continued approval, but the Council should update a Form F assessment as a priority.
26. On several occasions after this, a Council officer noted in records that the panels decision was that no other children (except the one already placed) could be placed with Mr and Mrs X until the Form F assessment had been completed.
27. In mid-January 2024, Mr X told the Council he was unhappy with the Council’s delay in completing the Form F assessment.
28. Shortly after this, the Council explained to Mr X it was trying to find an assessor who could speak a specific language. It also said the social worker would seek advice from a manager about an independent assessor for the Form F assessment based on panel advice.
29. The Council recorded early March that it was still trying to identify an independent social worker to complete the Form F assessment.
30. A week later, the Council told Mr X it had approached an independent social worker about completing the Form F assessment and was waiting for them to accept.
31. In mid-July Mr X emailed the Council. He asked why the Council had still not completed the Form F assessment and why the Council had decided to complete a full assessment without his knowledge.
32. The Council held a further fostering panel meeting at the end of July. The panel recommended continued approval of Mr and Mrs X as foster carers. But, the ADM, in reviewing the information, decided they did not agree with the panel decision because there was information missing from the Form F assessment. They also recorded that Mr X had not been given the opportunity to comment on the assessment.
33. In mid-August, Mr X complained to the Council about its delay in completing the Form F assessment. He noted the ADM told him the Council would update the Form F as a priority in July 2023, but instead then decided to do a full assessment, without telling him. Mr X said this caused emotional and financial distress because the Council refused to place any more children with them until the assessment was completed.
34. The Council replied to Mr X’s complaint at the beginning of October. It acknowledged that the panel recommendation and the ADM decision was for an updated Form F assessment to be completed. But explained as there had been significant changes to the family dynamics and to comprehensively address these changes, a full assessment was needed. The Council apologised for the delay in completing the Form F assessment and said this was partly due to needing to allocate an independent social worker and difficulty in understanding historical decision making.
35. Mr X was unhappy with the Council’s response and escalated this to stage two of the complaint process.
36. The Council responded to Mr X’s stage two complaint early November. It noted the previous complaint response did not make it clear the Council upheld his stage one complaint. The Council clarified it upheld his complaint about the delay in completing the Form F assessment and apologised for this. The Council did not respond to Mr X’s complaint point about his view that the Council had changed its decision from updating the Form F assessment to completing a full assessment.
37. In mid-December, the ADM decided they were satisfied with the information presented at panel and approved Mr and Mrs X to continue as foster carers.

Council’s response to my enquiries

38. The Council said it had reviewed its records, and it appeared the decision to appoint an independent social worker to complete the Form F assessment was made to support objectivity.
39. The Council said the delay in appointing an independent social worker was because it tried to find a worker that spoke a specific language.

My findings

The Council failed to follow the advice of the agency decision maker that only a new Form F should be updated and wrongly decided to complete a full re-assessment of them as foster carers

40. The ADM decided in July 2023 that a Form F assessment should be “updated” in relation to Mr and Mrs X as a priority.
41. A Form F assessment is a full foster carers assessment, usually used to assess new foster carers. But, there are circumstances where a council may decide to complete a full Form F assessment when reassessing a foster carers suitability. This can include where there are new people living in the household.
42. The Ombudsman’s role is to review how councils have made their decisions. But, we do not make operational or policy decisions on councils’ behalf, provide a right of appeal against their decisions, or seek to replace their judgement with our own. If a council has made a decision without fault then we cannot criticise it, no matter how strongly a complainant feels it is wrong. We do not uphold complaints simply because someone feels a council should have done something different.
43. What that means in this particular case is that it is not for me to make my own judgement about whether the Council should have completed a Form F assessment or a less detailed reassessment. But, I can consider whether the Council properly made its decision about this.
44. The panel explained in the panel meeting in July 2023, that it recommended the Council should “update” the Form F assessment and gave four reasons for making this decision. The ADM wrote to Mr and Mrs X to explain they agreed with the decision of the panel and that the Council would “update” the Form F assessment.
45. The Department for Education Assessment and approval of foster carers: Amendments to the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 4: Fostering Services says a council can make any checks it thinks are needed to decide if someone is suitable, this can include checks about new people living in the household. The Council decided it needed to carry out a new Form F assessment from scratch to reassess if Mr and Mrs X were suitable foster carers. It explained why it made this decision, and this was a decision the Council was entitled to make and was made without fault.
46. However, the way the Council explained this decision to Mr X was confusing. The panel and the ADM said they would “update” the Form F assessment when in fact it planned to carry out a full reassessment from the beginning. A council should clearly explain decisions and what will happen next. In this case, the unclear wording was poor communication and confused Mr X, which was fault. This caused Mr X uncertainty about the reassessment process. The Council should apologise to Mr X to remedy this injustice.

The Council delayed in completing a fostering re-assessment and reapproving Mr and Mrs X as foster carers

47. The Council already accepted it delayed completing the reassessment. According to Paragraph 22.8 of the NFMS, a foster carers approval should be reviewed as soon as possible. But, the Council took eight months to appoint an assessor, and then another eight months before taking the assessment to a foster panel meeting.
48. This significant delay was fault, which caused Mr and Mrs X frustration and uncertainty about their foster carer status.
49. Mr X asked the Council to make a payment for loss of earnings, as a self-employed foster carer, while the reassessment was being completed because he says the Council refused to place new children with them during this time. We do not normally recommend remedies that reimburse loss of earnings. This is because we cannot reach conclusive findings on such matters through our investigations. We cannot usually, on balance, establish a clear link between any fault and the claimed injustice of lost earnings. There are often other factors, such as personal circumstances involved. Such payments are therefore best resolved by the courts. If Mr X is still unhappy about this matter, he has the option of seeking legal advice.
50. But, I will recommend a remedy for the frustration and uncertainty caused to Mr and Mrs X by the Council’s fault.

The Council wrongly asked an independent social worker to complete this assessment and failed to tell Mr and Mrs X about this

51. The Department for Education Assessment and approval of foster carers: Amendments to the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 4: Fostering Services says a fostering service must make whatever enquiries it considers necessary to make a judgement on whether a foster carer is suitable.
52. The Council explained that it chose to appoint an independent social worker to complete the Form F assessment, to make sure the process was objective. This was a decision the Council was entitled to make and one that was made without fault.
53. Mr X also complained the Council did not tell him it planned to use an independent assessor. I found no evidence that the Council told him about this decision until March 2024. While this was poor communication and therefore fault, it did not cause Mr X any ongoing injustice. This is because, even if the Council had told him this sooner, the delays in completing the assessment would likely have still been the same.

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Action

54. Within four weeks of our final decision, the Council will:
• apologise to Mr and Mrs X for the identified faults. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council should consider this guidance in making its apology; and
• make one payment of £250 to Mr and Mrs X. This is to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused by the Council’s poor communication and delay in completing a foster carer reassessment.
55. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman