Looked after children

Lancashire County Council (18 014 601)

Statement Not upheld Looked after children 27-Aug-2019

Summary: The complainant is concerned that the Council is failing to abide by the contact arrangements to her granddaughter, as ordered by the Court. The Ombudsman does not find fault in the Council's earlier actions but there is now an opportunity to improve contact arrangements for the complainant if in the interests of her granddaughter. The Council has accepted this. The Ombudsman has therefore completed his investigation and is closing the complaint.

Wiltshire Council (18 019 074)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 22-Jul-2019

Summary: Ms B is a care leaver and complained about the lack of support she received from the Council. The Council failed to properly investigate Ms B's complaint under the statutory complaints procedure for complaints about children services. The Council has agreed to apologise to Ms B and investigate the complaint under the statutory procedure.

Norfolk County Council (18 015 593)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 19-Jul-2019

Summary: Mr D complains about the way the Council dealt with the circumstances around his mother's death when he was a looked after child. The Ombudsman has found fault in record keeping, a looked after child review practice, and complaint handling. The Council has agreed to apologise and make a payment to Mr D to acknowledge the injustice caused.

Salford City Council (18 005 749)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 18-Jul-2019

Summary: Mr X complains the Council failed to inform him that two of his daughters had been taken into care and he only learned of this development through social media. He also complains it failed to contact him when his daughters were at risk of harm or keep him updated about key developments and decisions affecting them once he became aware of their circumstances. Moreover, he complains about the way the Council handled his complaint about these matters. The Ombudsman has found the Council was at fault for the way it handled Mr X's complaint about these matters, but not for any other part of his complaint. In addition, we were unable to investigate his concerns about the Council not contacting him prior to April 2016 because this matter has been considered by the courts. The fault we did identify caused Mr X some distress therefore we recommend the Council apologises to him to remedy this injustice. We have also made a service improvement recommendation to prevent this fault from reoccurring. The Council has agreed to carry out these recommendations.

London Borough of Ealing (18 015 562)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 04-Jul-2019

Summary: Mr W complained the Council failed to accept an agreement to support him through three years of undergraduate study. The Council was not at fault for saying the agreement it had with Mr W was for him to study a Higher National Diploma rather than a Batchelor of Science degree. But there was no evidence it considered whether supporting Mr W for the final year of study was in Mr W's best interests. It is asked to do that now.

Hartlepool Borough Council (18 018 882)

Statement Not upheld Looked after children 28-Jun-2019

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council failed to provide adequate support to Mr Y, a former relevant child, and failed to provide her with financial support when he stayed with her. The Council was not at fault.

Norfolk County Council (18 017 202)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 17-Jun-2019

Summary: Mr X complained about how the Council managed contact arrangements between him and his children after they were taken into care. The Council was at fault because it failed to consider this complaint under the statutory children's complaints procedure. The Council has agreed to complete a stage two investigation of Mr X's complaint.

Bournemouth Borough Council (18 007 281)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 03-Jun-2019

Summary: Mrs X complains the Council failed to support the placement of a young person with her family and acted wrongly in de-registering them, causing worry and questioning her professional judgment. There was fault by the Council in some matters, but this did not cause injustice to Mrs X or her family.

Essex County Council (18 013 205)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 29-May-2019

Summary: The Ombudsman upholds the complaint from Ms X about the Council's failure to investigate her complaint. The Council has failed to comply with its legal duties to investigate complaints. This has caused Ms X avoidable delay in receiving a response to the complaints she has made. The Council agreed to apologise to Ms X, remind officers of their legal duties, and carry out an investigation once court proceedings have ended.

Cheshire West & Chester Council (18 005 756)

Statement Upheld Looked after children 26-Apr-2019

Summary: Miss X complained about how the Council worked with her when, and after, she was subject to an Interim Care Order. The Council was at fault as it did not properly involve Miss X in care planning. It then delayed accepting she was a care leaver and it failed to escalate her complaint properly through the statutory children's complaint procedures. However, these faults did not cause Miss X a significant injustice. The Council has apologised, arranged support and addressed faults with its officers.