London Borough of Havering (25 021 796)
Category : Children's care services > Looked after children
Decision : Closed after initial enquiries
Decision date : 26 May 2026
The Ombudsman's final decision:
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about letters and gifts not being given to her adopted child. We are unlikely to achieve more than the £200 offered by the Council.
The complaint
- Miss X says the Council’s children services team failed to ensure that gifts and letters she left for her child, Y, were passed onto Y.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
- We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’, which we call ‘fault’. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint, which we call ‘injustice’. 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 organisation; or
- further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B))
How I considered this complaint
- I considered information provided by Miss X and the Council’s replies to her.
- I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
- Y was adopted. Miss X says between 2010 and 2016 left letters and gifts with the Council for Y. Y is now an adult and in contact with Miss X. She had discovered that these letters and gifts were not passed onto Y. She complained to the Council in 2025. The Council replied at stage one and two of its statutory complaints’ procedure.
- The Council said that it cannot force adopters to pick up and give the letters and gifts to adopted children. The Council said its records from that time are missing. It has offered Miss X £200 for delays in replying to her and the uncertainty from the missing records.
- We are unlikely to achieve more. There is no practical prospect of investigating if the Council told the adopters of the letters and gifts existence. And in any event we are unlikely to recommend more than the £200 offered.
Final decision
- We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we are unlikely to achieve more.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman