The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council dealt with matters relating to a child in foster care. This is because doing so would not lead to a different outcome and because we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant seeks.
The complaint
Miss X complains about the actions of the Council’s children’s services and how it has dealt with matters concerning her child who is in foster care. Miss X says the Council has refused to arrange a psychological assessment for her, that contact with her daughter is arranged at the last minute, that her daughter has been given pork products despite being a Muslim and that the Council’s communication with Miss X had been poor.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
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: further investigation would not lead to a different outcome, or we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants.
(Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended, section 34(B)) We cannot investigate late complaints unless we decide there are good reasons. Late complaints are when someone takes more than 12 months to complain to us about something a @council/care provider has done. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26B and 34D, as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant and the Council.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
The Council was granted an interim care order for Miss X’s daughter in 2022. The plan at the time was for Miss X’s daughter to be placed in the care of a relative and the Council agreed to carry out further assessments included in a psychological assessment of Miss X.
The Council dealt with a complaint from Miss X, issuing a final response in May 2023 in which it signposted Miss X to the Ombudsman. I will not investigate the issues Miss X raised in that complaint because she waited more than a year before approaching the Ombudsman and I see no good reason why she could not have done so sooner.
Miss X raised a further complaint with the Council in November 2023.The Council met with Miss X and sent a final response. The Council said that it’s plans for the care of Miss X’s child had changed and that a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) would be sought for her child to live with her current foster carers, and for this reason it no longer considered a psychological assessment to be necessary.
In regard to its contact with Miss X, The Council accepted that Miss X had not been invited to recent care meetings and said that it would ensure that invites were sent going forward. It also said it would ensure she was kept up to date with the progress of the SGO application. The Council also agreed to give Miss X more notice of contact with her daughter.
The Council said it had raised the issue of pork products being given to Miss X’s child with her foster carers. The Council saw no reason to change the foster placement or the allocated social worker.
I will not investigate the issues raised in Miss X’s complaint to the Council in November 2023. This is because the Council has taken appropriate steps where is has found fault in how it had communicated with Miss X so further investigation would not lead to a different outcome. It is for the Council to decide what assessments are needed and how foster placements and social workers are allocated. We could therefore not achieve the outcomes Miss X seeks in regards to these matters.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because doing so would not achieve a different outcome and we could not achieve the outcomes she seeks
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman