A local authority has been heavily criticised by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) for refusing to engage the mother in a review of her vulnerable children’s care packages. The support Packages were subsequently reduced, despite there being no just cause for their reduction.

The following is a list of breaches by the London Borough Of Lewisham:

• Refusing to involve the mother in the reviews of her children’s care packages
• Reducing those care packages without telling the mother why
• Reducing the care packages despite there being no change in the children’s needs
• Undue delay in dealing with the mother’s complaint, spanning many months
• Taking a further 8 months to deal with the complaint after the Ombudsman’s intervention

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s role is to remedy injustice and improve social care services through shared learning.

The LGO has told the council to apologise to the mother, pay her damages of £550 and modify the care packages. The Ombudsman also recommended that Lewisham council should “improve its Care Panel decision-making process and review its procedures for identifying and dealing with complaints involving children and young people to ensure it meets its statutory duties.”

If you would like to complain to the Ombudsman about your case, you can find more information here.