Devon County Council (20 009 025)

Category : Children's care services > Looked after children

Decision : Closed after initial enquiries

Decision date : 08 Feb 2021

The Ombudsman's final decision:

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint that a foster carer abused and neglected a child that the complainant later adopted. This is because it is a late complaint.

The complaint

  1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mrs X, says her son was neglected and abused by a foster carer before Mrs X adopted him. Mrs X says the foster carer will pose a risk to children if she is still working.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

  1. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
  2. We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a council has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

  1. I read the complaint and the Council’s responses. I asked the Council if it has any safeguarding concerns. I considered comments Mrs X made in reply to a draft of this decision.

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What I found

What happened

  1. Mrs X’s son was in foster care before moving to Mrs X’s care from December 2016. Mrs X adopted him and says he was neglected and abused by the foster carer while he was living with her. Mrs X says she saw the foster carer mistreat her son. Mrs X says he has been traumatised by what happened. Mrs X says his mental health has suffered because of how he was treated by the foster carer. Mrs X says the extent of the trauma he suffered has emerged over the last four years. Mrs X gave feedback to the Council in 2016 about the foster carer.
  2. Mrs X complained to the Council in late 2020. The Council declined to accept the complaint because the law says people should complain within one year. The Council offered post-adoption support to Mrs X.

Assessment

  1. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint. Mrs X has been aware of her concerns since 2016 but she did not complain to us until December 2020. This is considerably longer than 12 months and, while I appreciate Mrs X is worried about her son and was busy with her new family, I have not seen any good reason to wait four years before making a complaint. Mrs X provided feedback to the Council in 2016 and it is reasonable to expect that she would have pursued this with us, before December 2020, if she thought her son had been mistreated.
  2. I considered whether we should accept a late complaint because Mrs X suggested the foster carer might present a risk to other children. Due to data protection rules I cannot share any information with Mrs X, but I am satisfied there are no safeguarding concerns in relation to the foster carer and no reason to accept such a late complaint. In addition, as there are no safeguarding concerns, and Mrs X has not provided any evidence that her son has been caused long-lasting harm by the foster carer, it is unlikely an investigation would achieve a meaningful outcome.
  3. Mrs X questions the logic of the 12 month rule and says targets should not be placed above child welfare. However, it is the law that says people should complain to us within 12 months and, while we have discretion to relax the rule, there must be a good reason. For example, a complaint may be a couple of months late because someone was ill or there had been a bereavement. The longer the delay the more compelling the reasons should be. In this case Mrs X has not provided any strong reason for waiting four years to complain to us and she has not provided any reason which would have stopped her from complaining earlier. She says over the years her son’s problems have emerged but, equally, she says she witnessed poor treatment by the foster carer. On this basis it is reasonable to expect she would have complained promptly and before 2020.

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Final decision

  1. I will not start an investigation because this is a late complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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