Summary: Mr X complained the Council refused to investigate historical abuse allegations he made against his former foster parent and did not support him when he transitioned from foster care to university. He said this caused him significant emotional distress and impeded his social and educational development. The Council oversaw a satisfactory investigation by another Council into the allegations and has agreed to review Mr X’s other complaint points. There was no fault in the Council’s actions.

The complaint

1. Mr X complained to the Council about abuse he said he suffered in 2011 whilst he was in foster care, but the Council refused to investigate. He also said the Council did not support him after leaving foster care and attending university.
2. He said he has suffered emotional distress and developmental setbacks because of this.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints of injustice caused by ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. 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)
4. 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

5. I contacted Mr X and discussed his view of the complaint.
6. I made enquiries of the Council and considered the information it provided.
   This included email correspondence shared between Mr X and the Council.
7. I wrote to both Mr X and the Council and considered their comments before I made a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant law and policy

8. Section 3.3 of Getting the best from complaints: social care complaints and representations for children and young people sets out the statutory children’s complaints process. It states local authorities do not need to consider complaints made more than one year after the grounds to make the complaint arose. Local authorities can exercise discretion and review complaints after this time frame if it is deemed reasonable to do so.
9. If a local authority opts not to review a complaint which is over one year old, it should write to the complainant explaining why.
10. Under section 47 of the Children Act 1989, if a local authority has reason to suspect a child who lives within the area is at risk or likely to suffer significant harm, it has a duty to make enquiries to decide whether to take action to safeguard the child.
11. Section 22 of the 1989 Children Act sets out the general duty of the local authority looking after a child to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. This duty underpins all activity by the local authority in relation to looked after children.
    This duty has become known as ‘corporate parenting’. In simple terms, ‘corporate parenting’ means the collective responsibility of the council, elected members, employees, and partner agencies, for providing the best possible care and safeguarding for the children who are looked after by the council.
12. The Children Leaving Care Act 2000 requires councils to keep in touch with care leavers for a prescribed period and provide support in the form of a pathway plan, personal advisor and general assistance as required.

Background

13. The Council placed Mr X and his sibling with foster parents in 2008 when he was of primary school age. This placement was in a different council area, Council Z.
    I am not investigating the actions of Council Z. This investigation only concerns the actions of Birmingham City Council (the Council).
14. Mr X said his foster parents physically abused him for several years. He said the Council arranged for him to see a therapist. Mr X said he initially felt unable to reveal the abuse to his therapist because his foster father would ask for information about these sessions.
15. In March 2011, Mr X told his therapist his foster father had hit him on the head and Council Z started a section 47 investigation with the Council’s knowledge. The police were also called to investigate the allegations Mr X had made. Mr X said he could not discuss the abuse he was experiencing because his foster father intimidated him and so he dropped the complaint.
16. The Council has provided notes recorded at the time of the investigation, which state it planned to place the boys with another carer and stipulating that Mr X’s foster father should not be notified about the investigation.
17. The notes also state the following regarding the police’s involvement with Mr X, “Mr X admitted almost straight away that he had lied…. Police informed him that he had wasted a lot of police time.”
18. Mr X said he eventually moved in with a relative of his foster father. Mr X’s sibling made a complaint to the police, which caused them to launch a further investigation into possible abuse taking place at Mr X’s foster parents’ home. Mr X said that he again felt unable to disclose the abuse he was experiencing at this time.

What happened

19. Shortly before turning 18, Mr X wrote to the Council and made a complaint about the abuse he said he experienced in 2011.
20. In December 2017, the Council told Mr X it would not investigate his abuse claims because Council Z carried out the section 47 investigation in 2011. The Council also confirmed the social worker assigned to his case no longer worked for the Council and it would be unable to uncover sufficient evidence due to the length of time that had passed. Therefore, the Council exercised its discretion to not investigate complaints about events that occurred more than 12 months ago.
21. Mr X was unhappy with this response. He raised a further complaint via his advocate about the abuse allegations and complained that the Council did not give him the financial and emotional support he was entitled to during the interim period between him leaving care and starting University.
22. The Council responded in February 2018 saying it had investigated his complaints relating to the support he received when he started university at Stage 1 of the statutory children’s complaints procedures and did not uphold them. The Council advised it would consider investigating these complaints at Stage 2 of its complaints process. The Council did not comment further on the abuse allegations Mr X had made.
23. Mr X was not happy with this response and referred the complaint to the Ombudsman.

My findings

24. Section 47 of the Children Act 1989 requires a council to consider taking action to safeguard a child if it has reason to believe the child is at risk or likely to suffer harm. Mr X was placed within Council Z’s area when he made the allegations against his foster parents. The Council decided Council Z would carry out the Section 47 investigation, whilst it retained oversight. There was no fault in these arrangements.
25. Ultimately, Council Z concluded there was no safeguarding risk after the police cautioned Mr X for wasting police time and he recanted his testimony. The Council was satisfied with this outcome. There was no fault in the way the Council made this decision.
26. In line with the statutory children’s complaints procedure, the Council wrote to Mr X and explained it would not investigate his abuse allegations because the complaint was over 12 months old, the social worker appointed to his case no longer worked for the Council and a satisfactory Section 47 investigation was carried out at the time. The Council provided a clear and detailed explanation for why it was not exercising its discretion. There was no fault in the way the Council made this decision.
27. Mr X maintains the Council failed to provide him with the financial and emotional assistance it was obliged to provide when he began university. The Council has confirmed it will review Mr X’s complaints regarding his transition from foster care to university at Stage 2 of the statutory complaints procedures complaints process. This is in line with the legislation and satisfactory action for the Council to take. If Mr X remains unhappy with the outcome of the statutory complaints process, he may return to the Ombudsman.

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Final decision

28. The Council has agreed to review Mr X’s complaint regarding his transition from foster care to university in line with the statutory complaints process. There was no fault in the Council’s response to Mr X’s historical abuse complaint. Therefore, I have completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman