Summary: Miss B says the Council failed to provide her with support for a child she holds a special guardianship order for. There is no fault by the Council except in the delay identifying a suitable therapist to provide either mediation or family therapy. An apology to Miss B and agreement to put the therapy into place is satisfactory remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss B, complained the Council failed to provide her with support for a child she holds a special guardianship order for.
2. Miss B says the Council’s failure to provide enough support since she took on a special guardianship order has caused her family distress and anxiety.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a Council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, 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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. If we are satisfied with a Council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

6. As part of the investigation, I have:
• considered the complaint and Miss B's comments;
• made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided.
7. Miss B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
8. Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.

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What I found

What should have happened

9. Working together to Safeguard Children is Government guidance (the guidance). This says whenever there is reasonable cause to suspect a child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm there should be a strategy discussion involving local authority children’s social care, the police, health and other bodies such as the referring agency.
10. The guidance says the strategy discussion should be used to:
• share available information;
• agree the conduct and timing of any criminal investigation; and
• decide whether enquiries under section 47 of the Children Act 1989 must be undertaken.
11. The guidance says local authority social workers are responsible for deciding what action to take and how to proceed following section 47 enquiries.
12. The Government has issued guidance on special guardianship. This says under the Children Act 1989 the local authority must make arrangements for the provision of special guardianship support services. Special guardianship support services are defined as:
• financial support;
• services to enable groups of children for whom a special guardianship order is in force or in respect of whom is being formally considered, special guardians and prospective special guardians, and parents of the child to discuss matters relating to special guardianship;
• assistance, including mediation services, in relation to contact between the child and their parents or relatives or any other person with whom the child has a relationship the local authority considers to be beneficial to the welfare of the child;
• therapeutic services for the child;
• assistance for the purpose of ensuring the continuance of the relationship between the child and his special guardian or prospective special guardian, including training for the special guardian or prospective special guardian to meet any special needs of the child; respite care; and mediation in relation to matters relating to special guardianship orders; and
• counselling, advice and information.

What happened

13. Miss B’s goddaughter began living with her in 2016 and Miss B applied for a special guardianship order. The court granted the special guardianship order in 2017. Miss B has continued to receive a special guardianship order allowance from the Council since then.
14. In March 2019 the Council received a referral as the child had reported sexual abuse by a family friend when she lived with her mother. The Council held a strategy meeting and began section 47 enquiries. The Council decided the allegations were substantiated but the child was not at risk of further abuse from the perpetrator as Miss B was a protective factor. The Council completed a child and family assessment. Both Miss B and the child said they did not want further support.
15. The Council wrote to Miss B about underpaid special guardianship allowance in April 2020. The Council later wrote to Miss B to say it had overpaid her and would be recovering the money. Miss B contacted the Council to raise concerns about that as she was concerned her funds had already been reduced. Miss B also asked the Council for help with a discount card and mediation.
16. The Council made a referral for Miss B to Grandparents Plus in July 2020. The Council said it would look into the discount card and mediation. The Council asked Miss B to complete a financial assessment.
17. The Council made further enquiries with Miss B about whether the child was willing to take part in mediation in September 2020.
18. Miss B contacted the Council again in November 2020 to chase the outcome of her financial assessment. Miss B also asked what was happening with mediation and any help she could get with discounts for days out with the child.
19. The Council held further discussions with Miss B about suitable mediation or therapy provision in December 2020, funded through the postadoption support fund. The Council suggested Miss B discuss this with the child, following which a visit could be arranged. The Council also provided Miss B with details of further resources available and sent her a discount card.
20. In February 2021 the Council asked the person working with the child at school whether she could provide some family therapy. The Council also asked a provider for a quote for family therapy for the child and her birth mother. The provider sent the Council an estimate of fees and said it had availability in 2-3 weeks although it had to be delivered online due to the pandemic. I do not have any information about what happened with that, although the Council says it has found it difficult to find a therapist the child will work with.

Analysis

21. Miss B says the Council failed to provide her with support for a child she holds a special guardianship order for. Miss B refers to inadequate information provided to her about the special guardianship order when she took the child on and lack of support over a four-year period.
22. As I said in paragraph 3, the Ombudsman will not normally consider a complaint about matters which occurred more than 12 months ago. I see no reason Miss B could not have complained to the Ombudsman about events between 2017 and 2018 at the time. I am therefore not exercising the Ombudsman’s discretion to consider what happened during that period. I am instead investigating the period from July 2019, which is 12 months before Miss B made a complaint to the Council.
23. Miss B says the Council failed to provide any support when the child disclosed historical sexual abuse in 2019. The evidence I have seen satisfies me the Council acted properly when it received the referral as it held a strategy meeting and carried out a child and family assessment. The child and family assessment shows both Miss B and the child were clear neither wanted support. The child and family assessment also shows the social worker advised Miss B and the child if this changed they could seek support either from the Council or through the school. As there is no evidence either Miss B or the child said they needed support in 2019 I have no grounds to criticise it.
24. The evidence I have seen though satisfies me when the Council got in contact with Miss B about special guardianship order allowances in 2020 she asked the Council for some support. Specifically, Miss B asked for a discount card and mediation/family therapy. I am satisfied the Council had provided Miss B with the discount card by December 2020. I am also satisfied the Council has acted on the request for support with mediation or family therapy. The documentary evidence shows the Council spoke to the therapist providing support to the child at school and sought a quote from another agency. I consider there was some delay seeking an appropriate therapist as I have seen no evidence the Council made any attempts to find a therapist before December 2020. That is fault. However, I am satisfied during that period the child continued to receive therapy at school and there are also issues about the child’s willingness to engage with a therapist. In those circumstances I consider an apology, plus a commitment from the Council to put the therapy into place within two months of my final decision, pending the child’s willingness to take part, a satisfactory outcome for this part of the complaint.

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Agreed action

25. Within one month of my decision the Council should apologise to Miss B for the delay putting in place family therapy/mediation.
26. Within two months of my decision the Council should ensure a therapist has been identified for the child and therapy put into place, pending the child’s acceptance of that therapy.

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Final decision

27. I have completed my investigation and found fault by the Council in part of the complaint which caused Miss B an injustice.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman