Friends and family carers

Northamptonshire County Council (18 011 884)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 18-Oct-2019

Summary: Mrs X complained about the financial support provided by the Council to help her to care for her three grandchildren. The Ombudsman has found fault in the way the Council managed her allowances. To remedy the injustice caused, the Ombudsman recommended the Council should apologise, write off the overpayment made to Mrs X and carry out a new assessment. The Council has agreed with this recommendation.

Wiltshire Council (18 007 032)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 15-Oct-2019

Summary: Mr and Mrs C complained that the Council failed to provide support for a child who was in their care. The Ombudsman finds fault by the Council, causing injustice to Mr and Mrs C. To remedy this, the Council has agreed to apologise, make a financial payment to Mr and Mrs C and review its practices.

Liverpool City Council (18 019 152)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 08-Oct-2019

Summary: the Council failed to record the reasons it pays a premium for G's care and failed to explain to Mr and Mrs P the possibility the payments will decrease, but any fault has not caused them an injustice. There is no fault in the Council reviewing the payments it makes each year.

Plymouth City Council (19 000 933)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 04-Oct-2019

Summary: Mrs D complains the Council has wrongly reduced the amount it pays her as a special guardian and failed to provide other assistance. The Council was not at fault in how it dealt with payments to Mrs D as a special guardian but it did not follow the statutory complaint process. Mrs D did not suffer any injustice because of this.

Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council (19 002 628)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 03-Oct-2019

Summary: The Council failed to consider Mr X's complaints under the statutory children's complaints process. The Council has now agreed to consider Mr X's complaint at stage 2 of the process.

London Borough of Lewisham (18 010 370)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 20-Sep-2019

Summary: Ms X complains the Council has refused to provide financial support since asking her to care for a child, Y in February 2014. Ms X also complains the Council failed to respond to her complaint within the statutory timescales. The Council's failure to treat Y as a Looked after Child and provide appropriate support since placing him with Ms X amounts to fault. As does the failure to respond to Ms X's complaint within the statutory timescales. These faults have caused Ms X an injustice.

Salford City Council (18 018 462)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 05-Sep-2019

Summary: Mr X complained the Council's overpayment of fostering allowance has caused his family stress, anxiety and inconvenience. The Council has accepted it was at fault, and has offered a financial remedy to Mr X. We consider this remedies Mr X's injustice.

London Borough of Barnet (17 018 374)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 22-Aug-2019

Summary: Ms X complained the Council did not pay her the same financial support as mainstream foster carers while she was a family and friend carer. She also said its decision to deduct child benefit from her Special Guardianship Allowance went against the Government's guidance. The Council paid Ms X the same fostering allowance as mainstream carers. However, it did not offer the opportunity to complete training that would have allowed her to be paid the additional skills fee. That meant Ms X did not receive as much money as she could have been entitled to earn. The Ombudsman finds the Council was at fault. The Council should remedy the injustice caused by paying Ms X the skills fee for the period she was a family and friend carer. The Council was not at fault in how it calculated the Special Guardianship Allowance.

London Borough of Brent (18 005 967)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 30-Jul-2019

Summary: Mrs X complained the Council failed to pay her Special Guardianship Allowance between 2015 and 2017. She said that caused her financial hardship. She said the Council also delayed in restarting her Special Guardianship Allowance in 2017 and in dealing with her complaint. The Council was at fault for stopping Mrs X's Special Guardianship Allowance. The Council has already paid Mrs X the Special Guardianship Allowance it owed her and an additional £3300. That remedies the fault.

Swindon Borough Council (18 001 459)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 29-Jul-2019

Summary: Mr and Mrs complained about the Council's failure to arrange contact with their grandchildren who were the subject of care proceedings. They also complained about the way the Council handled their complaint about this and poor communication generally. The Ombudsman has found fault in the way the Council communicated with Mr and Mrs X and its complaint handling. To remedy these faults the Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment of £250 to reflect the injustice caused.