Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the ending of a kinship care arrangement because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s response, our investigation would not change the outcome and there is, therefore, no worthwhile outcome achievable for us.

The complaint

1. Mr and Mrs X were kinship carers for a relative for many years. Mr and Mrs X complain about the way the placement ended and the Council’s handling of a safeguarding allegation and LADO investigation that followed.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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:

• we could not add to any previous investigation by the organisation, or
• further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or
• there is no worthwhile outcome achievable by our investigation.

(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))

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How I considered this complaint

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

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My assessment

5. Mrs X made detailed and specific complaints to the Council. I have carefully considered everything Mrs X said, although I have not included every detail here. We have limited resources, so I have focussed my attention on what I consider to be the core issue. I have also included as few details as possible in my decision statement to protect the anonymity of Mr and Mrs X and their relative.
6. Things came to a head one evening in 2025. Mr and Mrs X and the Council have different recollections about exactly what happened. It was clearly a stressful time for all concerned.
7. Mr and Mrs X say the Council ended the placement without telling them what they were alleged to have done wrong. Mrs X says she had been asking for help making plans for their relative’s future and was unhappy with the support the Council had offered.
8. The Council says Mr and Mrs X refused to have their relative back and would not speak directly to the Council on the night in question, so the Council had to make alternative arrangements. Mr and Mrs X strongly refute the Council’s version of events.
9. A safeguarding and LADO investigation followed. This is the process followed by the Council when there are allegations about someone who works with children. Comments by Mr and Mrs X’s relative gave the Council cause for concern.
10. I understand the safeguarding concerns were “unsubstantiated”, but Mr and Mrs X resigned as foster carers and their relative has not returned. I was sorry to hear they remain estranged from their relative.
11. The crux of the complaint is what happened on the night Mr and Mrs X’s relative left. This is not a matter which the Ombudsman, with our informal methods of investigation and our role as an administrative review body, could ever hope to resolve. We could not add to the Council’s response.
12. I am also mindful of the age of Mr and Mrs X’s relative at the time the placement broke down. All the evidence I have seen suggests their relative was a mature young person capable of making independent decisions in respect of living arrangements, and also capable of making complaint if unhappy with the way things turned out.
13. So, while I recognise Mr and Mrs X’s distress at the turn of events, I do not consider there is anything worthwhile we could add by investigating their complaint further. Further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

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Final decision

14. We will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s response, our investigation would not change the outcome and there is, therefore, no worthwhile outcome achievable for us.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman