Friends and family carers

London Borough of Bromley (18 019 407)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 01-Jul-2019

Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to make payments for the entire period she looked after her granddaughter after her foster care placement ended. The Council has not considered the complaint at stage two of the statutory complaints procedure and there are no grounds for the Ombudsman to consider the complaint before the stage two investigation is completed. The Council should now conduct a stage two investigation.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council (18 011 199)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 01-Jul-2019

Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to properly support him after he started to look after his granddaughter, Z, in 2016. He says it has not properly managed or risk assessed Z's contact with her birth father, Mr D. The Council failed to properly consider paying Mr X appropriate financial support until it awarded him Special Guardianship Allowance in 2018. It has agreed to make him a backdated payment equivalent to his Special Guardianship Allowance and apologise. This is appropriate to remedy the injustice caused by this fault. Z's contact plan was agreed by Court and does not allow her contact with Mr D. The Council has offered to reassess the appropriateness of Z having contact with Mr D if circumstances change. There is no fault in this decision.

Kent County Council (18 012 636)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 27-Jun-2019

Summary: There is fault by the Council in its means testing for disabled special guardians as its model fails to take into account extra costs related to disability when assessing resources available to the household. The Council will apologise and allow the complainant, and others affected, an opportunity to evidence disability expenditure and to have their claims backdated.

London Borough of Lewisham (18 019 158)

Statement Not upheld Friends and family carers 26-Jun-2019

Summary: I have stopped investigating Miss X's complaint about the financial support provided by the Council when she was a foster carer and then a Special Guardian. This is because the complaint has not completed the Council's statutory complaints procedure.

Durham County Council (18 011 766)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 21-Jun-2019

Summary: Mrs D complained the Council had unreasonably stopped paying Special Guardianship allowance even though it knew the family's finances were very strained. There is evidence of fault leading to injustice for Mrs D and the Council has been asked to make a financial settlement and it will consider all relevant information when it assesses whether the family's circumstances are exceptional and merit further financial support.

Royal Borough of Greenwich (18 009 656)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 10-May-2019

Summary: the Council delayed recognising Miss B's sister's children were looked after children which delayed provision of financial support to the family between January and July 2018. The Council also delayed considering Miss B's complaint at stage two. Those failures put an unreasonable financial burden on the family and created significant stress. A financial payment to three family members and training for officers is satisfactory remedy for the injustice caused.

North Tyneside Metropolitan Borough Council (18 012 806)

Statement Not upheld Friends and family carers 03-May-2019

Summary: Miss X complained about the Council's decision not to backdate her Residence Order allowance. Miss X said a Council officer told her she was eligible for a back payment of £22,000 for the period between 2011 and 2015. I cannot say whether the Council officer told Miss X she was eligible for the back payment. However, Residence Order allowances are discretionary, and the Council decided not to backdate the payments. The Council was not at fault.

London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham (18 003 840)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 18-Apr-2019

Summary: Ms X complains about the Council's handling of her case while she was a special guardian to a child. She says the Council had not given her information about being a special guardian and had not paid her financial support correctly. The Ombudsman does find fault with the Council for not paying Ms X accurately. However, this has not caused Ms X an injustice because the Council has overpaid Ms X overall. The Ombudsman does not fault for the Council's other actions.

Liverpool City Council (17 020 257)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 29-Mar-2019

Summary: Mrs B complained that the Council failed to approve her and her husband as foster carers in accordance with a care order made in 2006 and as a result failed to offer them adequate support both emotional and practical. The Council has agreed to pay Mrs B £1000 in addition to £7000 previously offered, to provide an explanation as to why they were never approved as foster carers, allow them an opportunity to check the information held on the case records is correct and ensure it takes action to formalise any other long-term unregulated placements.

Nottinghamshire County Council (18 009 200)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 29-Mar-2019

Summary: Mr and Mrs G complain the Council has not satisfactorily remedied a complaint we investigated in 2018 which concerned its responsibilities to Mrs G as a special guardian for her grandson. We have upheld this complaint also, finding fault by the Council in its assessment of a special guardianship allowance paid to Mrs G. We consider this has caused Mrs G further injustice as distress. The Council has agreed action to remedy this injustice including undertaking a further reassessment of the allowance it pays to Mrs G.