Statement Not upheld Looked after children 29-Jul-2021
Summary: Mr X complains that the Council has prevented him from contacting a child, B, who he previously cared for under a Special Guardianship Order. He also says the Council has told his partner not to mention Mr X's name to B and has not provided an explanation for this. The Council is not at fault.
Worcestershire County Council (20 005 918)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 13-Jul-2021
Summary: Mr and Mrs D complained the Council failed to properly carry out the recommendations proposed by its review panel, causing them inconvenience, stress and to spend time following up the recommendations. The Council said it had completed the recommended action. The Council acted with fault as set out by its review panel and has agreed to remedy the injustice caused.
Lancashire County Council (20 012 543)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 05-Jul-2021
Summary: Mrs X complains that the Council has failed to act in the interests of their daughter, Y, and failed to involve her and her wife in Y's life while she has been in the Council's care. The Ombudsman finds the Council failed to consider the complaint at Stage two of the statutory complaints procedure. This denied Mrs X the opportunity for independent oversight of her complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mrs X and carry out a Stage two investigation without delay.
London Borough of Bexley (20 011 941)
Statement Not upheld Looked after children 01-Jul-2021
Summary: investigation of this complaint has been discontinued because the Council is currently considering the subject of Mr B's complaint at stage 2 of the children's statutory complaints procedure and he can ask for consideration at stage 3 of that procedure if he is dissatisfied with the outcome of stage 2. This process may resolve Mr B's complaint without the need for the involvement of the Ombudsman's office.
Wiltshire Council (20 008 098)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 28-Jun-2021
Summary: the Council has agreed to fund Mrs G's grandson B's nursery fees until his second birthday. The Council will adopt a policy for the provision of ongoing support to carers who have Child Arrangements Orders and assess B's eligibility for Child Arrangement Order Allowance.
Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (20 008 175)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 22-Jun-2021
Summary: Mr D complains about the quality of care whilst he was a looked after child, in particular that he did not receive a suitable education and arrangements for contact with his family were inadequate. The Council has accepted there was fault and has apologised. The fault caused Mr D to lose the opportunity to achieve GCSEs and has damaged his relationships with his family. The Council has agreed to make a payment to remedy those injustices.
London Borough of Waltham Forest (18 016 503)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 22-Jun-2021
Summary: Ms B complained about how the Council handled various matters in relation to her grandson who was accommodated by the Council. The Council failed to follow the right process when investigating the concerns about one of the placements and did not investigate the concerns about the second placement, made decisions about contact without involving Ms B when she retained parental responsibility for her grandson, gave Ms B misleading information about the options the Council was considering and when a placement planning meeting would take place, failed to properly document its decision-making, produced inaccurate documents and failed to properly consider her complaint. An apology, payment to Ms B and training for officers is satisfactory remedy.
Kent County Council (20 009 774)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 21-Jun-2021
Summary: Miss C complained about failures by the Council relating to the care of three of her children who are looked after children in foster care. We find the Council is at fault for failing to deal with Miss C's complaint through the statutory children's complaints process. The Council has agreed to our recommendations to address the injustice caused by fault.
Cumbria County Council (20 011 877)
Statement Upheld Looked after children 10-Jun-2021
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X's complaint the Council has failed to arrange contact with 'child A', who is in care, and has refused to deal with her complaint about the matter. The Council has accepted it was at fault for not dealing with the complaint and has agreed to do so. Mrs X can return to the Ombudsman if she disagrees with the Council's conclusions on the complaint.
Suffolk County Council (20 006 235)
Statement Not upheld Looked after children 01-Jun-2021
Summary: Ms J has made a complaint about the Council's children services team. Mainly, she says there was a lack of support by the Council before her grandchildren became looked after children. Among other issues, Ms J says the Council has not promoted regular contact between her and her grandchildren. The Ombudsman has not found any evidence of fault by the Council.