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.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council failed to pay her the correct amount of financial support after she acted as a foster carer and then a Special Guardian to her niece. She said the Council ignored her complaint twice before it investigated it.
2. Miss X said she suffered a loss of financial earnings after agreeing to become a Special Guardian and suffered depression.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start or continue with an investigation if we are satisfied with the actions a council has taken or proposes to take. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(7), as amended)

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

4. I read the complaint and the Council’s response.
5. I referred to ‘The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006’.
6. Miss X and the Council had the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

Back to top

What I found

The Children Act 1989 statutory complaints procedure

7. This sets out in law the procedure that councils must follow to investigate complaints made by looked-after children and children in need. This procedure also applies to complaints made by Special Guardians about the Council’s provision of special guardian support services, including financial support.
8. The procedure involves three stages:
• Stage one - local resolution by the Council. This stage takes between ten and twenty working days.
• Stage two - an investigation by an investigating officer who will prepare a detailed report and findings to which the council must respond. The investigating officer does not line manage anyone involved in the complaint. If a complainant is still dissatisfied after stage two, they have the right to ask for their complaint to be considered at stage three. A stage two investigation for a complex case should take no more than 65 working days.
• Stage three - consideration by an independent review panel which may make further recommendations. A review panel should begin within 30 working days of the request.

Special Guardianship Order

9. A Special Guardianship Order (SGO) is a court order that gives a carer parental responsibility for a child. Special Guardians share parental responsibility with the child’s parents, but they can exercise their parental responsibility to the exclusion of all others. If the child was in care, the child is no longer looked after by the Council once the order is made. Councils can provide financial support if they consider it is necessary to ensure a Special Guardian can look after a child.

What happened

10. Y is Miss X’s niece. In 2014 Miss X and her partner applied to be Special Guardians for Y who was in foster care. In June 2015, the Council placed Y with Miss X because her foster carers were going on holiday. The Council assessed Miss X so she could act as a foster carer. In July 2015, the Court made the Special Guardianship Order.
11. Miss X complained to the Council in 2015, 2016 and 2017 about the financial support it gave her both before and after becoming a Special Guardian. The Council failed to respond to her complaints. Miss X complained again in February 2018. The Council is investigating the complaint through the statutory complaint’s procedure.
12. As the investigation into Miss X’s complaint is on-going the Ombudsman’s involvement is premature. Therefore, I have stopped investigating Miss X’s complaint.
13. Miss X may bring her complaint back to the Ombudsman once the Council’s investigation is complete if she remains dissatisfied with the outcome.

Back to top

Final decision

14. I have discontinued my investigation into Miss X’s complaint about the financial support provided by the Council when she was a foster carer and a Special Guardian. This is because the complaint has not completed the Council’s statutory complaints procedure.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman