Summary: Ms X complained about the Council’s involvement with her son, Mr Y’s, family. There was no fault in how the Council considered and incorporated Mr Y’s views in its assessment of his children’s needs or investigated his safeguarding concerns. The assessments were not biased against Mr Y.

The complaint

1. Ms X complained on behalf of her now deceased son, Mr Y. She complained the Council failed to take account of Mr Y’s views and his experiences of domestic abuse in its Child in Need assessment. She also said it failed to respond to a safeguarding concern about his son B.
2. She said that meant the Council’s assessments were biased and it affected Mr Y’s contact arrangements with his children. That contributed to a deterioration in his mental health.
3. Ms X wants the Council to review its procedures so unconscious bias does not occur in its assessments and wants the Council to apologise for any failings in its practice.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

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. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
6. We may investigate a complaint on behalf of someone who has died or who cannot authorise someone to act for them. The complaint may be made by:
• their personal representative (if they have one), or
• someone we consider to be suitable.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 26A(2), as amended)

7. Although Ms X is not Mr Y’s personal representative, in the circumstances I am satisfied that she is a suitable person to complain on behalf of Mr Y.
8. 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

9. I considered the information Ms X provided in her complaint and the supporting information the Council provided, including the children’s social care records. This includes information I cannot share with Ms X or refer to in this decision.
10. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered their comments before making a final decision.

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What I found

Child protection

11. Councils have a duty to investigate if there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child in their area is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm. They must decide whether they should take any action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare. (Children Act 1989, section 47)
12. Where a council has reasonable cause to suspect that a child in their area is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm, it has a duty to make such enquiries as it considers necessary to decide whether to take any action to safeguard or promote the child’s welfare. Such enquiries should be initiated where there are concerns about abuse or neglect.
13. Councils should act decisively to protect children from abuse and neglect including starting care proceedings where existing interventions are insufficient.
14. Councils should make initial enquiries of agencies involved with the child and family, for example, health visitor, GP, schools and nurseries. The information gathering at this stage enables the council to assess the nature and level of any harm the child may be facing. The assessment may result in:
• no further action;
• a decision to carry out a more detailed assessment of the child’s needs; or
• a decision to convene a strategy meeting.

Child in need

15. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 says councils must safeguard and promote the welfare of children within their area who are in need.
16. A child is in need if:
• they are unlikely to achieve or maintain a reasonable standard of health or development unless the council provides support;
• their health or development is likely to be significantly impaired unless the council provides support; or
• they are disabled.
17. When a council assesses a child as being in need, it supports them through a child in need plan. This should set clear, measurable outcomes for the child and expectations for their parent(s). Councils should review child in need plans regularly.

What happened

18. Mr Y was the father of two children. Mr Y died in early 2021.
19. The Council’s children’s services team became involved with Mr Y’s family in 2020 because of concerns about the effect on the children of Mr Y’s wife’s mental health difficulties.
20. The Council assessed the needs of the children. It spoke to both parents and both children, and also sought advice from professionals involved with the family. It decided there was no risk of significant harm to the children, but that they were in need. It offered to arrange support services to help the family but both parents declined help at the time.
21. Later in 2020, children’s services again became involved with Mr Y’s family. Around this time, Mr Y and his wife separated, with both sharing care of the children. Mr Y also told the Council he was concerned about the impact his wife’s mental health problems were having on the children.
22. Again, the Council assessed the needs of the children and the family. It spoke to both parents, and both children, and also sought advice from professionals involved with the family, including mental health workers. The Council decided there was no risk of significant harm to the children. However, it did decide the children were in need, so it produced a Child in Need plan for both children.
23. Over the following months, there was significant disagreement between both parents about contact arrangements and who should care for the children. The Council told both parents that it could not decide where the children should live or what contact they should have with each parent. However, it could support them to try to agree. It also told both parents that its role was to focus on the views and best interests of the children. It told the parents that, if they could not agree contact arrangements, they would need to take court action themselves.
24. The Council met with both parents and both children several times following the parent’s separation. It provided advice to both parents to help them negotiate shared care arrangements and regularly reviewed the needs of both children.

My findings

25. Ms X does not have parental responsibility for the Mr Y’s children. Therefore, I cannot share information about the children with Ms X. I have however examined a considerable amount of evidence from the Council. This includes records of all the interactions it had with Mr Y and his family.
26. These records show that the Council asked for, and considered the views and opinions of:
• Mr Y;
• his wife;
• both children;
• the children’s schools;
• the police and;
• mental health professionals.
27. The records show the Council maintained the required emphasis on the views and needs of the children. It challenged both parents’ views where these conflicted with the children’s best interests.
28. The records show there was no bias towards or against either parent, including Mr Y. There is evidence the Council both sought and considered Mr Y’s views, although it did not always agree with his views.
29. It is clear both parents, including Mr Y, disagreed with the opinions of some of the professionals involved, including the social workers. However, I cannot question the professional judgement of social workers where they have considered the available evidence and made decisions in the right way.
30. The evidence also shows that when Mr Y raised safeguarding concerns about his children, the Council assessed these concerns, made enquiries of appropriate professionals and decided that it did not need to take action beyond its ongoing involvement. I am satisfied there was no fault in how the Council made this decision, and I cannot question the professional judgement of the social workers.

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Final decision

31. I have completed my investigation. There was no fault in how the Council considered and incorporated Mr Y’s views in its assessment of his children’s needs or investigated his safeguarding concerns. The assessments were not biased against Mr Y.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman