Summary: Before our involvement, the Council accepted that it was at fault for a number of ways in which it failed to properly support Mr B while he was in care. It has already offered him an apology and a symbolic financial remedy. It has also agreed to assist him to apply to correct his birth certificate – which it failed to do for the five years he was in care – and will take steps to improve its service.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr B, complains about various ways in which he believes the Council failed him while he was in its care as a child.
2. Mr B believes the Council’s failings have caused him great distress.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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 council. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
5. 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

6. I considered:
• Information from Mr B and the Council.
• The Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies.
7. Mr B and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

The Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies

8. We do not punish councils in the way a court might. This means we do not award ‘damages’ or ‘compensation’.
9. Instead, we can ask a council to make a payment to ‘symbolise and acknowledge’ the distress someone suffered because of what it did wrong.   
10. If we decide it is appropriate, we normally recommend a remedy payment for distress of up to £500. But we can recommend higher payments if we decide the distress was especially severe or prolonged.

What happened

The Council’s investigation into Mr B’s complaint

11. Mr B first complained to the Council in 2021. The Council responded under the first two stages of the Children Act complaints procedure. The second stage involved an independent investigation.
12. The Council upheld all of Mr B’s complaints, and accepted that:
• Mr B went into care in 2018, and, shortly afterwards, began asking the Council to start the process of having his birth certificate amended (as the man named on it was not his father). But the Council had still not done this by the time Mr B turned 18 in 2023.
• It did not sort out a passport for Mr B while he was in care either, which meant he had not been able to go on holiday with his carers or his friends.
• It told Mr B that it would send him a chronology of his case, but it did not do so.
• When Mr B’s social worker moved to a different job in 2022, nobody told Mr B beforehand.
• After the social worker left, nobody visited Mr B for five months – well outside statutory timescales.
• After this delay, Mr B’s new social worker conducted a poor visit in which she demonstrated little knowledge of his case. She also brought a puppy to the visit, which meant she paid little attention to Mr B.
• It failed to give Mr B information about where he would be living when he turned 18 in good time before his 18th birthday.

The Council’s offers to Mr B

13. The Council offered:
• An apology.
• To provide the requested case chronology.
• A symbolic £300 payment for any distress arising from its failure to take action to amend his birth certificate.
• Another payment of £100 to recognise his injustice from its delayed complaint response.
• A final payment of £300 to recognise the time and trouble he went to in making the complaint.

Mr B’s complaint to the Ombudsman

14. Mr B was dissatisfied with the outcome of his complaint to the Council. He said the proposed financial remedy was insufficient for his injustice. He also said his birth certificate had still not been amended.

My findings

15. If a complaint has already been through the second stage of the Children Act complaints procedure, this means the complainant has already had access to an independent investigation.
16. Consequently, we will not normally re-investigate such a complaint unless we have reason to believe the previous investigation was flawed.
17. I have considered the documents from Mr B’s complaint, and I note that:
• Each part of the complaint was considered and addressed by the Council.
• The independent investigation report refers to relevant procedure and case records. These case records support the investigator’s findings.
• All parts of the complaint were upheld.
18. Because of this, it is unlikely I would be able to add anything significant to what the Council has already said. If I were to reinvestigate the complaint, it is also unlikely that this would lead to a substantially different outcome for Mr B. So a reinvestigation would be of no benefit to him.
19. I have, however, considered whether the Council’s proposed remedies properly recognise the injustice it has caused.
20. The offer of a financial remedy to Mr B appears in line our guidance, so I have no grounds to recommend that the Council increase its offer.
21. However, it appears that Mr B’s birth certificate has still not been sorted out.
22. The Council’s duties to Mr B are not the same now as they were when he was in care. But it is not his fault that the issue with his birth certificate remains unresolved past his 18th birthday. The Council should take action to resolve it.
23. The Council should also explain how it has, or will, improve its service.

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Agreed actions

24. Within a month, the Council has agreed to assist Mr B to apply to correct his birth certificate. This should include – as required – help filling in forms, contact with other agencies to obtain necessary information, and the payment of any associated administrative fees.
25. Within two months, the Council has agreed to send us an action plan which sets out what it has done, and what it will do, to avoid future failings similar to those identified in Mr B’s complaint.
26. The Council will provide us with evidence it has done these things.

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Final decision

27. The Council was at fault.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman