The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We have discontinued our investigation into Mrs B and Miss C’s complaint about the Council’s removal of Mrs B’s granddaughter from her care and its subsequent refusal to place her with Miss C (the child’s aunt). We can neither tell the Council where to place a child nor decide on disciplinary action for social workers, so we cannot achieve the outcomes they want.
The complaint
The complainants, whom I refer to as Mrs B and Miss C, complain about how the Council’s children’s social work department dealt with their family. I refer to the child who was the subject of social work intervention as D. Mrs B is D’s grandmother and Miss C is D’s aunt. After a period in local authority care, D now lives with Miss C.
The Council has already accepted fault for most of Mrs B and Miss C’s complaints about how it handled D’s removal from Mrs B’s care and her subsequent placement and family contact. But they say the Council has failed to accept that it should have placed D with Miss C immediately after her removal from Mrs B’s care. They say its failure to do this caused great distress to D.
Mrs B and Miss C also complain that the Council has not punished its social workers for their mistakes in D’s case.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The Ombudsman investigates 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 may decide not to continue with an investigation if we decide: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants, or there is another body better placed to consider this complaint.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6)) If a council has investigated something under the statutory children’s complaint process, the Ombudsman would not normally re-investigate it unless we consider the investigation was flawed. However, we may look at whether a council properly considered the findings and recommendations of the independent investigation.
The Ombudsman cannot investigate whether social workers are meeting their professional standards of conduct. Complaints of this nature should be referred to the social workers’ professional body, Social Work England.
How I considered this complaint
I considered information from Mrs B, Miss C and the Council. They all had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.
What I found
The Council’s placement of D After considering Mrs B and Miss C’s complaint through all three stages of the Children Act 1989 complaints procedure, the Council accepted that it had failed D in almost every area of the complaint. Among other things, it agreed to make a payment of £2,000 to recognise D’s distress, and payments of £250 each to Mrs B and Miss C to recognise their time and trouble in making the complaint. These payments appear to be in line with the Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies.
The one area of Mrs B and Miss C’s complaint in which the Council did not admit failings was their assertion that, when it removed D from Mrs B’s care, it should have placed her with Miss C immediately (rather than placing her in foster care while it conducted a full viability assessment of Miss C).
The independent investigator at stage 2 of the complaints procedure considered the case files, interviewed members of staff and examined the Council’s procedures. She concluded: It was correct for the [Council] to ensure full positive assessments were completed before [D] was placed with any other family member, to ensure [her] safety and wellbeing … there was a real likelihood of another failed placement without the full assessment being undertaken.
The review panel at stage 3 of the complaints procedure supported the stage 2 investigator’s conclusion, and said, “It is appropriate that [Council] should consider with extreme care how [D’s] care should be provided and from whom”.
Having considered the reports provided by both the independent investigator and review panel, I am satisfied that they properly considered the complaint and reached a conclusion – that the Council was entitled to act cautiously in order to keep D safe – which does not appear obviously unreasonable. Because of this, it is unlikely further investigation would lead to a different outcome.
Furthermore, even if I were to investigate the complaint, I could not achieve the outcome Mrs B and Miss C want. This is because I have no power to tell a council that it should place, or should have placed, a child in a specific person’s care.
For these reasons, I will not investigate Mrs B and Miss C’s complaint about the Council’s placement of D.
The punishment of social workers The Ombudsman is a body which investigates complaints about administrative fault. Any fault we find is with councils or social care providers, and all recommendations are made to those bodies. We do not name social workers and do not get involved with disciplinary matters.
Because of this, I will not comment on Mrs B and Miss C’s belief that the social workers involved in D’s case should be disciplined for their mistakes. This means I cannot achieve the outcome they want.
If Mrs B and Miss C feel the social workers connected with D’s case failed to meet published professional standards, then they can complain about this to the professional registration body, Social Work England.
Final decision
I have discontinued my investigation. I cannot achieve the outcomes Mrs B and Miss C want.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman