Summary: Miss B complains the Council did not properly deal with a s17 child in need assessment. The Council was not at fault in how it carried out the s17 assessment, but it did not deal with Miss B’s complaint through the correct complaints process. Miss B did not suffer any injustice because of this.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall refer to as Miss B, complains that the Council did not properly deal with a s17 child in need assessment because the Council:
• did not make a proper assessment of her son’s needs.
• did not provide proper support for her son’s needs.
• did not handle a grant application to Tower Hamlets LB properly.
• left her in accommodation with her son without heating and hot water.
• closed her case without re-assessing her situation.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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)
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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

4. I have spoken to Miss B about her complaint and considered the information she has provided to the Ombudsman. I have also considered the Council’s response to her complaint and its response to my enquiries.
5. I gave the Council and Miss B the opportunity to comment on my draft decision.

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What I found

6. The Council has a two-stage complaints process.
• The first stage is local resolution, the Council will try to deal with a complaint straight away or it will give a detailed reply within 20 working days.
• The second stage is review, a senior council officer not involved in the case will reconsider the complaint and send a response within 20 working days.

Children’s services complaints

7. The law sets out a three-stage procedure for councils to follow when looking at complaints about children’s social care services. At stage 2 of this procedure, the Council appoints an Independent Investigator and an Independent Person (who is responsible for overseeing the investigation). If a complainant is unhappy with the outcome of the stage 2 investigation, they can ask for a stage 3 review. If a council has investigated something under this procedure, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it. However, he may look at whether a council properly considered the findings and recommendations of the independent investigation.
8. There are time limits within which the Council should complete its investigations. At stage 2 the investigation of the complaint should take no longer than 25 days or 65 days where the complaint is more complex. The timescales only apply from the date when the complaint and scope of investigation is agreed with the complainant where the complaint has been submitted orally.
9. If a complaint goes to stage 3 then the panel’s consideration of the complaint should take no longer than 35 days and the Council has a further 15 days to respond to the findings.

Children Act 1989

10. The Council has a duty to safeguard and promote the welfare of children by providing a range of services appropriate to each child’s needs. (Children Act 1989, section 17)
11. The Council must make enquiries when it has “reasonable cause to suspect that a child... is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm”. The Council has to decide what action, if any, it should take to safeguard the child’s welfare. (Children Act 1989, section 47)

Statutory Guidance

12. There is current statutory guidance on undertaking assessments of children under s17. (Working Together to Safeguard Children, DfE 2018)

What happened

13. Miss B had suffered from issues of domestic violence. She was living in temporary accommodation arranged by Council 2 and suffered from a serious medical condition which had impacted on her housing choices.
14. The heating boiler in the temporary accommodation broke down and Miss B was left relying on electric space heaters which were expensive to run.
15. Miss B approached the Council and asked for help saying she was finding it difficult to both heat the property and afford enough food for her and her son, because of delays to her benefit payments.
16. The Council gave Miss B some emergency funds and conducted a child and family assessment.

Miss B’s complaint

17. Miss B complained to the Council about the Council’s assessment. She said it had not properly considered her circumstances and left her living in unreasonable conditions. She also said Council 2 were making her move to an area where she and her son were at risk of domestic violence.
18. The Council responded to Miss B at stage 1 of its complaints procedure.it did not uphold her complaint.
19. Miss B asked to escalate her complaint to stage 2. She said she was not happy with the Council’s response because:
• it had ignored the fact her son had been left in accommodation with no heating and hot water.
• she could not afford to heat her accommodation and the Council had given her advice to budget her money better.
• the social worker did not help her apply for a grant from Council 2.
20. The Council responded to Miss B at stage 2, advising her of the action that had been taken and that it had identified no social care needs. The Council said that the only problem was the broken boiler at her property and this was being dealt with by Council 2.

My findings

21. When Miss B first contacted it to ask for help. the Council provided Miss B with £50 of emergency funds and immediately allocated a social worker.
22. The Council quickly put in place a plan to assess Miss B’s situation. This included making a home visit, considering risk factors, exploring family support, conducting a welfare check and contacting Council 2.
23. The Council made enquiries of appropriate professionals working with Miss B and made a home visit to Miss B to assess her situation. It found no issues that caused it concern apart from noting that the temperature in her flat was very cold.
24. The Council completed a home visit to Miss B in advance of the target timescale set in the plan to assess her situation.
25. The Council contacted Council 2 and Shelter about her housing situation. Council 2 had advised Miss B to contact an organisation that specialised in providing accommodation in her situation. Miss B wanted to remain in a local environment due to her medical condition.
26. Council 2 remained responsible for Miss B’s housing. The Council informed Council 2 of the cold conditions Miss B was living in. Following this contact Council 2 agreed to place Miss B on a transfer list to rehouse her.
27. The Council made enquiries about Miss B’s son’s welfare with her GP and nursery. No concerns were identified.
28. The Council identified a grant that Miss B may be eligible for from Council 2. This grant had to be applied for through a professional working with the applicant. The Council passed the information to Miss B’s nursery to make the request.
29. Records show the nursery contacted the Council to clarify what it should request from Council 2 regarding a grant to Miss B. I am content this shows the nursery were aware of the grant application and had agreed to make it.
30. The Council acted in accordance with the statutory guidance when it assessed Miss B’s circumstances.
31. The Council dealt with Miss B’s complaint through its complaints procedure. As Miss B’s complaint was that the Council’s s17 assessment had not been carried out correctly, her complaint should have been dealt with through the statutory children’s services complaints procedure.

Was the Council at fault?

32. The Council was not at fault in how it conducted the s17 child in need assessment. The Council was at fault in how it dealt with Miss B’s complaint because it did not use the correct complaints procedure.

Did Miss B suffer any injustice?

33. Miss B did not suffer any injustice because the s17 child in need assessment was completed properly.

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Final decision

34. I have found that the Council was not at fault in how it dealt with a s17 child in need assessment, but that there was fault in how it dealt with Miss B’s complaint because it did not follow the correct complaints process. There was no injustice to Miss B because there was no fault with the s17 assessment.
35. I have now completed my investigation.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman