Blackpool Borough Council (26 000 296)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 21-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council failing to carry out a child and family assessment for Mrs Y, and the Council not providing any financial support or guidance to Mrs X. This is because there is insufficient evidence of fault for the first part of complaint, for the remaining part, further investigation would not lead to a different outcome.

Lancashire County Council (26 009 526)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 19-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council calculated Mr X’s Special Guardianship Allowance. This is because there is not enough evidence of fault. We also will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about historical payments of fostering allowance as it is late.

Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (25 015 517)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 15-Jul-2026

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.

Hertfordshire County Council (25 030 182)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 06-Jul-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council’s kinship assessment. This is because the law prevents us from investigating issues considered by a court.

Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (25 022 272)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 01-Jul-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Special Guardianship Order allowance payments because we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant wants.

Durham County Council (25 021 579)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 28-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the lack of financial support provided by the Council because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our involvement.

Bath and North East Somerset Council (26 007 795)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 23-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Ms M’s complaint about staying put payments because there is nothing we could add to the Council’s response and no worthwhile outcome achievable.

Lancashire County Council (25 021 757)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 17-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to disclose a recording or transcript of a telephone call and the Council’s apology because there is no worthwhile outcome achievable for us.

London Borough of Lewisham (24 023 350)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 15-Jun-2026

Summary: We agree with the Council that there has been fault in the way it managed the family fostering placement of a child (Y) with the complainant and his wife. The Council apologised and agreed to make a symbolic payment for the avoidable distress and to provide a breakdown of the monies paid to the complainants. The original faults were then compounded by the Council’s failure to provide this breakdown. We recommended a specific remedy for this which the Council has accepted. Therefore, we have completed our investigation and am closing the investigation.

Milton Keynes Council (25 007 351)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Friends and family carers 02-Jun-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about care planning for a child, and the Council’s treatment of Mrs X as a foster carer. The law prevents us from investigating complaints about the start of court proceedings or what happened in court. We will also not investigate the part of Mrs X’s complaint about special guardianship financial support. It is reasonable to expect Mrs X to ask the Council for a review.