Summary: Miss X complained the Council falsely accused her of poor care of her foster children and did not properly investigate her complaint. She says this distressed her and stopped her fostering more children. The Council was at fault. It failed to keep Miss X informed during the care investigation process and tell her the outcome. It also delayed its complaint response. This caused uncertainty and frustration for Miss X. The Council has agreed to apologise.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council falsely accused her of poor care of her foster children and did not investigate her complaint properly. She said this distressed her and stopped her fostering more children.

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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 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)
3. 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)

4. 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)
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 read Miss X’s complaint and spoke to her about it on the phone.
7. I considered evidence provided by Miss X and the Council as well as relevant law, policy and guidance.
8. Miss 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 have not investigated

9. Miss X has raised concerns about the conduct of individual social workers. Our role is to investigate the actions of the Council as a corporate body and not the actions of individual officers. If Miss X has concerns about the professionalism or integrity of individual social workers then it would be reasonable for her to report these concerns to the professional body Social Work England.

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What I found

Background Information

10. The fostering minimum standards say “Allegations against people that work with children or members of the fostering household are reported by the fostering service to the LADO. This includes allegations that on the face of it may appear relatively insignificant or that have also been reported directly to the police or Children and Family Services.”
11. The National Fostering Minimum Standards says investigations into allegations against carers should be carried out quickly and should provide protection to the child but also support to the person subject to the investigation. Foster carers should be told in writing about any allegations against them and given information about the timescale for completing the investigation.
12. The Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) is a person responsible for managing and overseeing investigations into allegations that somebody who works with children has behaved in a way that may pose a risk to children.
13. One of the standards for fostering services is to “ensure that a clear distinction is made between investigation into allegations of harm and discussions over standards of care. Investigations which find no evidence of harm should not become procedures looking into poor standards of care - these should be treated separately.”
14. It will be a matter of professional judgement for the social worker, based on their knowledge of the child and carer, that the child’s welfare is not being adequately safeguarded.
15. The Council’s complaints procedure says it aims to reply to a stage one complaint within 15 working days and a stage two complaint within 15 working days.

What happened

16. This is a summary of events, outlining key facts and does not cover everything that has occurred in this case.
17. Miss X was foster carer with an independent foster agency (IFA). Miss X was fostering two children from the Council. Miss X lived in a different council area.
18. In September 2024 Miss X told the Council she had said an inappropriate word in front of the children. Miss X asked to Council to move the children.
19. The Council held two meetings with Miss X later in September 2024. The meetings discussed Miss X’s concerns and her care of the children.
20. In early October 2024, following the meetings with Miss X, the Council decided to make a referral to the LADO at Miss X’s home council. The Council told Miss X’s IFA it was making the referral. Miss X then asked to end the foster placement immediately. The children moved to an alternative foster carer shortly afterwards.
21. The Council made the LADO referral to Miss X’s home council four days after it told Miss X's IFA. The next day, the home council’s LADO contacted both the IFA and Council telling them the matter was a standard of care issue. The LADO said there was no harm element and it did not meet the threshold for a LADO investigation. The LADO asked the IFA to address this with Miss X as a standards of care issue. Shortly afterwards, the Council gave the IFA a copy of its concerns.
22. Later in October 2024, Miss X’s IFA had a standards of care meeting with Miss X. After the meeting, Miss X remained registered with the IFA.
23. In November 2024 Miss X complained to the Council about the actions of some Council officers and inaccurate information being reported in meetings. The Council did not uphold Miss X’s complaint and said it had a duty to follow a process when concerns are raised. The Council also said the children had raised the issue of inappropriate language. The Council said it would ensure better and more robust communications with IFAs going forward.
24. Miss X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and asked the Council to escalate her complaint to stage two later in November 2024.
25. The Council issued its stage two complaint response in February 2025. The Council did not uphold Miss X’s complaint. The Council’s response also said the children did not express concerns about inappropriate language and this information had come from Miss X.
26. Miss X was not satisfied with the Council’s response and asked the Ombudsman to investigate. Miss X wants the Council to apologise for taking action based on inaccurate information and for not investigating her complaint properly. Miss X wants the Council to make a payment reflecting the impact this had on her.
27. In response to my enquiries, the Council said its delayed stage 2 complaint reply was due to having no head of service in post. The Council also said its stage 1 complaint response was wrong when it said the children had reported inappropriate language.
28. Miss X said she no longer felt comfortable fostering children and had resigned from the IFA.

My Findings

Referral to LADO

29. Paragraph 10 says fostering minimum standards require the Council to report allegations to the LADO. This includes allegations that may appear insignificant. The Council made a LADO referral because it had concerns about Miss X’s care of the children. I recognise the referral distressed Miss X. However, the Council was entitled to decide to make a LADO referral if it had concerns. I cannot question the merits of the Council’s decision. The Council was not at fault in making the LADO referral.

Communication

30. Paragraph 11 says fostering minimum standards requires foster carers to be told in writing about any allegations and the timescale for completing the investigation. The Council did not tell Miss X in writing its concerns nor the timescale and outcome of the investigation. This is fault.
31. The Council told Miss X’s IFA it was making a LADO referral to Miss X’s home council. It gave the IFA details of its concerns. The IFA told Miss X about the referral and met her three weeks later to discuss the standards of care following the LADO decision. Miss X’s contact with her IFA meant she should have known about the LADO referral and outcome. However, the Council failed to write directly to Miss X. This is fault and caused uncertainty for Miss X.
32. Miss X says she feels unable to foster children again. However, Miss X remained registered with the IFA after the standards of care meeting and could have fostered more children. As stated in paragraph 29, I recognise the LADO referral distressed Miss X. However, the Council’s failure to write to her directly did not prevent her fostering again.

Complaint

33. The Council’s stage one complaint response wrongly stated the children in Miss X’s care had told the Council she used inappropriate language. The Council’s stage two response stated this information had come from Miss X but did not say the previous response was incorrect. This is fault and frustrated Miss X.
34. Paragraph 15 says the Council’s complaint’s procedure requires it to respond to stage 2 complaints within 15 working days. The Council’s stage 2 complaint response was 81 days late. This delay is fault and frustrated Miss X.

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Action

35. To remedy the outstanding injustice caused to Miss X by the fault I have identified, the Council has agreed to take the following action within 4 weeks of my final decision:
• Apologise to Miss X for the uncertainty caused by not writing to her to inform her of the concerns referred to the LADO, the frustration caused by wrong information in its stage one complaint response and the delay in its stage two complaint response. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The organisation should consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended in my findings.

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Decision

36. I have completed my investigation. I have found fault by the Council which caused injustice to Miss X.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman