Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about the way the Council has dealt with the complainant regarding the care of her son, a looked after child. This is because it is unlikely he would find fault by the Council.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I shall call Mrs Y, is unhappy about the way Council has dealt her about the care of her son, a looked after child. She says:
• There has been a lack of support and communication with her by the Council.
• It has not kept her informed and it failed to take her concerns about her son’s care seriously.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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’. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if we believe it is unlikely we would find fault. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I read what Mrs Y has sent us and the information the Council has provided about the complaint. I also invited Mrs Y to comment on a draft version of this decision for her comments.

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What I found

What happened

4. Mrs Y’s son, who was 18 in January 2020, was in the Council’s care as a looked after child. In October 2019 the Council had contact with Mrs Y about where her son would live, and in November 2019, it had a meeting with Mrs W and held a looked after child review. It made a foster care placement on the basis of her son’s views about where he wanted to live.
5. Mrs Y complained to the Council at the end of November. She said she had not been asked about her son returning to her home. She raised concerns about her parental rights and her son’s foster care placement, the meeting with his social worker and her son’s contact with her. Mrs Y wanted the Council to improve its service to her and her son.
6. The Council responded in January 2020. It said it had spoken to her about where her son would live. As her son was over 16 parental consent for a foster placement was not needed. It held a meeting with her to explore family relationships, how they could be developed and why decisions had been made. It was her son’s decision who he has contact with, not the Council’s. It had also been in email contact and had explained why certain information about her son could not be shared with her.

Assessment

7. I understand how concerned Mrs Y is about her son’s care. But we cannot investigate any issues about his care or the Council’s service to him, without her son’s consent as he is over 16.
8. And, because of his age, the Council is not able to share all information about her son with Mrs Y, without his consent. But the Council has maintained contact with Mrs Y and kept her informed about her son, in so far as it is able to do so. Based on what I have seen, the Council is not at fault in the way it has communicated with Mrs Y or responded to her concerns.

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Final decision

9. I will not investigate this complaint. This is because there is no evidence of any fault by the Council.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman