Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s refusal to backdate fostering allowance payments. The Council has already considered the complaint through the three stage Children Act complaint procedure and further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained about the Council’s refusal to backdate fostering payments to the date she began caring for a relative.
2. Miss X said the matters have caused a negative impact to her mental health and have had a financial impact.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. We provide a free service, but must use public money carefully. We do not start or continue an investigation if we decide further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

4. I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
5. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

6. Miss X complained about the Council’s refusal to backdate fostering payments to the date she began caring for a relative.
7. The Council considered Miss X’s complaint under the Children’s Act statutory complaints procedure.
8. The statutory children’s complaints procedure was set up to provide children, young people and those involved in their welfare with access to an independent, thorough and prompt response to their concerns. Because of this, if a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it.
9. In these cases, the Ombudsman focuses on whether the Council properly considered the findings and recommendations in the complaint reports and if the agreed recommendations remedy the complainant’s injustice.
10. The available evidence suggests the Council have properly considered the findings and accepted the recommendations set out in the stage two investigating officers report which were to remedy Miss X’s injustice.
11. While Miss X’s complaint was not upheld and a decision made not to backdate the allowances to when Miss X requested, a financial remedy was provided. This was to acknowledge the Council could have provided financial support earlier.
12. Given the Council’s actions here, we will not investigate this complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman