Summary: Mrs X complained about the communication and support provided to the family and the Council’s actions when it placed their son in temporary foster care. They also complained that their son overheard a discussion between professionals that he should not have. We found there was fault, but the Council’s apology and actions to prevent a recurrence of the fault that occurred were a suitable remedy to the complaint.

The complaint

1. Mrs X’s son went into care under Section 20 of the Childrens’ Act. Mrs X complains that:
• The Council failed to keep them informed about what was happening and did not provide them with the relevant paperwork.
• Paperwork/minutes of meetings they have received had been inaccurate and had not been corrected
• There have been numerous changes of social worker without informing them.
• The Council has not provided what it agreed and it failed to support the family as a whole.
• The Council shared information that it shouldn’t have with various people.
2. Mrs X complains overall the Council has insulted them, criticised them, not listened to them and the Council’s approach overall has caused 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 an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
4. 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

5. I spoke to Mrs X and considered the information she provided. I asked the Council for information and documents. I considered the information the Council and Mrs X provided when reaching my findings.
6. Mrs X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered the comments received before making a final decision.
7. The Council served a notice to us under Section 32(3) of the Local Government Act covering all of the information it provided in response to our enquiries. The law says that when a council serves such a notice regarding information it provides, we cannot share it with any third party. The Council served the notice because her son did not consent to information about him being shared.

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What I found

Section 20 of the Children Act 1989

8. Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 imposes a duty on every local authority to provide accommodation to children identified as children in need resident in its area who appear to require accommodation.
9. A council has a discretion to provide accommodation even where there is a person with parental responsibility willing and able to care for the child or arrange for accommodation to be provided for them. In these circumstances, a council may only accommodate the child if those with parental responsibility do not object.

Public Law Outline (PLO)

10. This is a process by which a council will notify parents of its intention to consider a court application for a care or supervision order. A council will begin the process when they are concerned about a child’s wellbeing and to allow parents an opportunity to respond before formal action is taken. A PLO meeting is held with social workers, parents and their legal representatives and often a written document sets out what the council will do and what the council would like parents to do.
11. Depending on the outcome, and sometimes after further discussion, councils will decide whether it should apply to the courts for a care or supervision order.

What happened

12. In the summer of 2020 Mrs X contacted the Council to seek help because of her son’s behaviour. Mrs X’s son is referred to as Y in this statement.
13. Mrs X explained that Y’s behaviour was violent towards them, he had also threatened to kill himself. He was also refusing to go to school. She stated the family were in crisis. At the time of the referral Y was staying with another family member.
14. The Council carried out a children and families assessment and a social worker contacted the family with a view to starting Non-Violent Resistance (NVR) work. This is work intended to help people manage destructive, aggressive and controlling behaviour and to de-escalate aggression. Mr and Mrs X attended one session, but the Council says they did not respond to contacts to continue this work. Mrs X disagreed with what the Council told us. Mrs X said that Mr X attended two sessions but when he could not continue to attend, the Council did not provide alternative dates for this.
15. The Council recommended that Y was subject to a Child in Need (CIN) plan, a CIN meeting was held in September 2020. A referral was also made for a family group conference to consider support available within the family.
16. In October Mrs X asked the Council to find a foster placement for Y, because Y was refusing to attend school and she felt things were not going to change.
17. The Council placed Y in a foster placement in November 2020 under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989. The aim was to provide short term support for Y with a view to him returning to his family home within six months. Y’s status as a CIN has been subject to CIN review meetings on a number of occasions since that time.
18. In discussions with Mr and Mrs X about contact with Y, between November and the end of January they explained they found the situation difficult. Mr X had some face-to-face contact with Y. As at the end of January, Mrs X felt she was not yet ready to do this. They were not yet ready to have Y live with them again.
19. A Permanence Planning Meeting (PPM) was held virtually by video conference on 4 February 2021. Y’s foster carer dialled into the meeting. During the meeting a social worker told the other attendees about a specific comment Mrs X had made in a discussion with another social worker in January. This was documented in a case note on file. Y was at the foster carers home at the time of the video conference call. He overheard the social worker telling the meeting attendees what the case note said.
20. Mrs X explained to us that the context of her comment in January had been her pushing back against the social worker pressuring her to meet face to face with Y. She said she was not commenting about Y himself. She was, in effect, saying to the social worker that pressuring her to meet Y was unreasonable.
21. I understand after Y overheard part of the planning meeting he decided not attend a planned therapy session.
22. In February 2021 the Council says it was concerned that Y remained in Foster Care under Section 20 without a clear plan to return home. Social workers took legal advice about what the Council’s approach should be. In February the Council wrote to Mr and Mrs X to begin the ‘Public Law Outline’ process.
23. Mrs X complained in February about the information shared with Y and she wanted to understand what he overheard and how this happened. She also complained about the support she received and raised other issues.
24. On 23 March the Council responded to the complaint. In summary:
• The Council apologised that the complaint had been necessary. It explained the majority of the meeting’s attendees had not been aware Y was at home with his foster carer when she was part of the meeting online. The Council could not confirm the exact words Y heard but explained what this was in general terms. It acknowledged that Y overhearing the meeting was wholly inappropriate and recognised it caused distress to the family as a whole.
• Mrs X felt the case note and others were inaccurate and had been taken out of context. Officers visited Mr and Mrs X and they shared a copy of the actual case note that Y heard being discussed. The Council suggested Mr and Mrs X reflected on what they felt was inaccurate and sent in comments and corrections which could be used in a discussion with Y so he was not left with ‘half-truths’. The Council explained that officers had discussed the issue direct with Y.
• The Council said it had discussed the learning from the incident with the fostering agency to prevent it re-occurring. It stated it had also changed its own practice to check if the young person was at home before proceeding with video conference calls.
• The Council accepted it could have done better in terms of providing the necessary paperwork. It agreed to share the Family Plan and Child in Care review outcomes.
25. On 31 March Mr and Mrs X told the Council they had already provided comments in mid-March for use in discussion with Y. They also commented that the Council still had not provided copy paperwork it had agreed to. They sought answers to some specific questions around people involved with supporting them, the assessment and involvement of other family members and about the length of Y’s foster placement and what future plans were.
26. The Council responded to some of these points. It noted that others had been addressed in the legal paperwork under the PLO process.
27. The Council provided us with a summary of the support that it provided to Mr and Mrs X. The Council carried out a children and families assessment and agreed a plan for the family to follow in crisis situations. It offered Family Therapy, NVR training and support from the Positive Behaviour Service. Support was also provided by a social worker at various points.
28. In April 2021 Mr and Mrs X stated at that time they felt Y should remain in local authority care. The Council told us it was committed to working further with both Y and Mr and Mrs X about how they may restore contact between them.
29. The Council told us it would be working to do some restorative work with both Mr and Mrs X and Y separately to consider past events and a plan to move forward. They stated both parties wished to build a relationship.

Ys Social Workers

30. Y’s social worker began supporting him in June 2020. His social worker was absent from work, so his social worker changed in October 2020. In April 2021 Y’s original social worker resumed responsibility for Y’s case.
31. In June 2021, Y’s case was passed to the child in care team, so a new social worker took responsibility for his case. The new social worker did not introduce herself to Mr and Mrs X until September 2021. The Council says she apologised for the lack of contact. Later that month, due to the new social worker’s absence from work, her team manager became the family’s point of contact. The Council stated there is was now a good working plan and updates are sent to Mr and Mrs X monthly.

Communication and Record Keeping

32. The Council provided us with a copy of the case notes for Y’s case and it explained the actions it had taken. Unfortunately, no specific minutes or notes were available of the meeting that Y overheard. This was due to an IT issue which led to the loss of the notes that had been made along with other documents. However, the Council had provided us with the specific case note that was being discussed, and that Y overheard.
33. The Council stated there had been significant email correspondence. The Council acknowledged that as a result, it may not have recorded and responded to all communications from Mr and Mrs X.

Was there fault by the Council

34. I found that communication by the Council could have been improved. There were instances in which Mr and Mrs X could have been kept up to date more regularly, for example, with changes to social workers. The Council also acknowledged it may not have responded to contacts from the family. However, while there were changes of social worker, it seems this was not excessive and the Council maintained as much continuity as possible under the circumstances.
35. The Council gave Mr and Mrs X the chance to comment on things that they found to be incorrect from the case notes in March 2021 when responding to the complaint. I understand Mr and Mrs X sent comments which should now be part of the Council’s files. I am therefore satisfied Mr and Mrs X had the opportunity to correct the record where it was appropriate to do so.
36. I found there was no failure to provide support for the family. In addition to providing the foster placement for Y and supporting him, the Council offered a range of courses and support to Mr and Mrs X and attempted to facilitate contact.
37. I found there was fault in relation to the PPM meeting. The Council failed to ensure confidentiality would be maintained when it discussed sensitive issues over a video conference call. As a result, Y overheard some of this meeting. This should not have happened. The Council also has no records of the meeting to show what was discussed. The failure to ensure confidentiality and to keep records of the discussion represents fault.
38. I note the Council provided a sincere apology for its failings in its response to their complaint. The Council acknowledged that Y should not have been able to overhear the meeting. It also took steps to address its practice to ensure this did not reoccur. These are the actions we would have recommended had the Council not already acted. I am satisfied the Council remedied the complaint appropriately as a result.

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Final decision

39. There was fault by the Council. We consider a suitable remedy has been provided.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman