Derbyshire County Council (25 008 066)

Statement Upheld Disabled children 16-Jun-2026

Summary: Mrs X complained that the Council in respect of her child, B, delayed completing a social care assessment, which was inaccurate and contained harmful language. Mrs X said this caused her uncertainty and frustration, and meant the family missed out on support. We found the Council at fault. The Council has since carried out a new assessment, apologised to Mrs X, and offered a symbolic payment. It has also made improvements to its staff guidance around assessments and record-keeping. We consider these to be suitable remedies.

London Borough of Croydon (25 022 077)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Disabled children 16-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a blue badge application because there is insufficient evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to justify our involvement.

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames (25 022 193)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 16-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the involvement of a Local Authority Designated Officer from the Council because there is not enough evidence of fault in the Council’s actions to warrant investigation by us. We also cannot investigate the actions of the school as a legal bar prevents us doing so.

Lancashire County Council (25 023 671)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Other 16-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the social worker allocated to his family’s case. This is because there is no sign of fault in the Council’s decision not to consider his complaint whilst there are ongoing court proceedings.

Oxfordshire County Council (25 024 177)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 16-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s response to concerns he raised about his son in 2023. The complaint is late and there are no good reasons to exercise discretion to consider it now.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (25 024 213)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 16-Jun-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of his children’s case between 2023 and 2024. The complaint is late and the law prevents us from investigating anything that is or has been the subject of court proceedings.

London Borough of Lewisham (24 023 350)

Statement Upheld Friends and family carers 15-Jun-2026

Summary: We agree with the Council that there has been fault in the way it managed the family fostering placement of a child (Y) with the complainant and his wife. The Council apologised and agreed to make a symbolic payment for the avoidable distress and to provide a breakdown of the monies paid to the complainants. The original faults were then compounded by the Council’s failure to provide this breakdown. We recommended a specific remedy for this which the Council has accepted. Therefore, we have completed our investigation and am closing the investigation.

West Northamptonshire Council (25 021 913)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 15-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate Mr F’s complaint about the care of his daughter because there is not enough evidence of fault and nothing to be gained from further investigation.

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council (25 022 358)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Child protection 15-Jun-2026

Summary: We cannot investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s handling of safeguarding matters about his child, and the conduct of a social worker. This matter is outside our jurisdiction as court action relating to child protection matters has started.

Worcestershire County Council (25 022 946)

Statement Closed after initial enquiries Looked after children 15-Jun-2026

Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s handling of Ms X’s concerns about the care of her child. An investigation by us is unlikely to achieve significantly more than the Council has already done or lead to a different outcome.