Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council changing a looked after child’s bank account. It is unlikely we would recommend any further remedy.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I shall call Ms X, says the Council failed to tell her about her child’s bank account changes, and have not treated her as having shared parental responsibility.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

3. I considered information provided by Ms X and the Council.
4. I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.

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My assessment

5. Ms X says her child, D, is looked after by the Council under Court Care Order. She says D had a child trust fund bank account at Bank Y, which she paid into. At the end of March 2022 she discovered she could no longer pay into the account. A few weeks later she called the bank to be told the account had been moved to another bank.
6. Ms X says she then called the Council’s children services team. She says it was two days before an officer called her back to explain what had happened. Ms X complained. The Council replied in early May 2022. It said:
• It apologised for not giving her prior knowledge of the bank change;
• She can still pay into the new account, and it provided details to do so;
• Confirmed she shared parental responsibility;
• It accepted there had been a two day delay in replying on this issue and said it was not undue delay for the information requested.
7. The Children Act 1989 confirms that a Care Order means that whilst parental responsibility is shared with a parent, the Council has the power to determine the extent to which the parent can meet their parental responsibility. In practical terms this means the Council can make decisions, like moving bank accounts, without discussing in advance with the parents.
8. It is unlikely our investigation could achieve more than the Council’s reply. We are unlikely to recommend any further remedy.

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Final decision

9. We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because our investigation is unlikely to achieve a significantly different outcome.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman