The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has published its latest round of complaints, which include complaints about children’s social care, local authority handling of child protection cases and the provision of education and educational support.
This week Researching Reform is just going to add the Ombudsman newsletter as we received it, rather than pulling out cases we think may be of interest. It’s a labour intensive exercise, and we’re not sure whether it is useful to our readers. However we have put phrases and sentences in bold for featured child protection complaints.
Children and Education
Please note: our decisions are published six weeks after they are issued to councils, care providers and the person who has made the complaint. The cases below reflect the caselaw and guidance available at the time of issue and the individual circumstances of each case.
Portsmouth City Council (21 014 773)
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the Council removing Mr X’s child and its plans to remove his unborn child. These matters have been and will be subject to court orders.
Staffordshire County Council (20 012 417)
Summary: Miss C complained about the care and support she received from the Council as a child. Miss C says because of the Council’s fault she did not receive proper support and missed out on a care leavers grant.
Cheshire East Council (20 013 619)
Summary: Ms X complained about fault and delay in the way the Council provided support for her child’s special educational needs and care needs. There is no evidence of fault by the Council that has caused a significant injustice. Disagreement about provision made in an Education, Health and Care plan is outside the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman as Ms X had a right of appeal to Tribunal, which she has used. The Ombudsman cannot consider any loss of education during the period of the appeal. The complaint is not upheld.
London Borough of Harrow (21 003 253)
Summary: Mr B complained about delay and fault by the Council in issuing an EHC plan for his son C and a failure to provide alternative education for C while he was unable to attend school. We found fault with the Council’s actions: it delayed in issuing the EHC plan and failed to provide education for C for 11 months. The Council has agreed to pay Mr B £4,500 for the benefit of C’s education and £500 to Mr B for his distress, frustration and time and trouble. It has also agreed to take steps to improve its procedures for the future.
Kent County Council (21 005 596)
Summary: There was fault by the Council in the way it dealt with Y, a child with special educational needs. There was a failure to complete a timely review of his Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan), poor communication and a delay in identifying an alternative education programme for Y. The Council will apologise, issue an amended EHC Plan and make payments described in this statement.
Summary: The Council failed to follow up its request for a school to bring forward an annual review of an Education, Health and Care plan within a reasonable timescale. This did not cause injustice to Mr X, as his son remained in a suitable school throughout.
Kingston Upon Hull City Council (20 005 093)
Summary: Mr and Mrs K complain the Council did not treat their nephew as a looked after child, after its social worker asked them to accommodate him. That meant they did not receive a fostering allowance. The Ombudsman upholds the complaint, as we find fault with the Council’s communications and record keeping. We cannot say the Council should have treated Mr and Mrs K’s nephew as a looked after child. But the Council has agreed to our recommendation of a remedy for the uncertainty caused by the faults.
Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council (20 010 618)
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the way the Council responded when a young person left the complainant’s care. This is because the matter has been considered in Court.
London Borough of Hounslow (21 000 644)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement with the complainants family. This is because we cannot add to the investigation already carried out by the Council and we cannot achieve the outcome the complainant seeks.
Milton Keynes Council (21 008 019)
Summary: Ms X complains that the Council failed to deal properly with her complaint about the way it treated her as a foster carer, and failed to provide an adequate remedy for her. We find there was fault by the Council. It has already recognised some fault but it has not provided an adequate remedy. The Council has agreed to make a payment in addition to the action it has already taken.
Kent County Council (21 014 647)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a child and family assessment carried out by the Council. This is because we can achieve nothing significant by doing so.
Suffolk County Council (21 014 861)
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about a substantiated outcome being recorded on his file following a LADO process. This is because it is unlikely an investigation could add to the response already provided by the Council’s investigation and we cannot achieve the outcome Mr X seeks.
London Borough of Wandsworth (21 014 877)
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s consideration of his child’s safety and its assessment of with whom she should have lived. This is not a separable matter from those that were or could have been considered in court and investigation would not lead to a worthwhile outcome.
Royal Borough of Greenwich (21 014 896)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the level of Special Guardianship allowance provided by the Council. This is because the events happened too long ago, and I see no reason why the complaint could not have been made sooner.
City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council (21 015 264)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about what social workers said in court and closing Mr X’s case. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. We cannot investigate matters that have been heard in court. Mr X has a right to return to court it would be reasonable to use to pursue contact with his children.
Buckinghamshire Council (20 002 863)
Summary: I have discontinued my investigation. Ms X had a right of appeal in February 2020 and in July 2021 which we would have expected her to use. The Ombudsman cannot achieve the outcome Ms X wants. The Ombudsman cannot direct changes to an EHC plan or name a different school, only the SEND tribunal can do this.
Leeds City Council (21 014 352)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about delay in meeting a child’s special educational needs. Most of the matters complained of are not separable from the dispute over what the child’s needs are, which has been subject to appeals to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. We could not achieve a worthwhile outcome by investigating the remaining matters, which are minor.
London Borough of Redbridge (21 001 643)
Summary: Miss X complains the Council failed to investigate allegations she made against her family when she was a child and disclosed information to her family against her wishes. The Council is not at fault.
Liverpool City Council (21 012 100)
Summary: We will not investigate Mrs X’s complaint about the Council not providing financial assistance to her granddaughter while at university. There is not enough evidence of fault to warrant investigation.
Lancashire County Council (21 014 494)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s children’s services involvement with matters relating to the complaints contact arrangements with her child, including how the complainants requests for information are dealt with. This is because contact arrangements are subject to court proceedings and the Information Commissioner is best placed to deal with data protection matters.
Wirral Metropolitan Borough Council (21 014 679)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about about how the Council dealt with safeguarding concerns raised about a child’s care. This is because court proceedings have commenced to consider the child’s care, and the complaint is not separable from matters which are subject to these proceedings.
Plymouth City Council (21 014 855)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about an allegation that a social worker sexually propositioned Mr X during a home visit.
West Sussex County Council (21 014 906)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about a report the Council’s children’s services produced for the courts. The law prevents us from considering complaints about matters that have been considered during court proceedings.
Essex County Council (21 014 495)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council assessed a child’s special educational needs. This is because this concerns a matter which has been appealed to a tribunal. We will not investigate other elements because they are either late or have not yet been considered by the Council.
Wakefield City Council (21 005 304)
Summary: Mr X complained the Council failed to properly investigate a concern about his sons’ wellbeing he raised in June 2021. We found no fault in the Council’s actions.
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about the Council’s failure to provider her a washing machine and its complaint handling after she contacted the Council. That is because there is insufficient evidence of outstanding significant injustice to justify our involvement.
Lancashire County Council (21 011 889)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council’s LADO dealt with a complaint about Mr X. There is no evidence of fault.
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (21 013 815)
Summary: We will not investigate Ms X’s complaint about the Council’s decision to place her children on a child protection plan. We cannot consider the merits of the Council’s decision where there is no sign of fault in the process by which it was reached.
City of York Council (21 014 961)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about recognition of parental responsibility after an adoption overseas. Mr X and his wife have a right to go to court to establish the status of an adopted child it would be reasonable to use.
Warwickshire County Council (21 014 971)
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the actions of a social worker. The matters complained of are not separable from the conduct of court proceedings.
Devon County Council (21 015 016)
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the content of a report. This is because this matter is not separable from matters which have been before a court, and about which it would be reasonable to return to court.
Derbyshire County Council (21 016 289)
Summary: We will not investigate Mr and Mrs X’s complaint about safeguarding incidents involving Mr Y when he was a pupil at a special needs school and the Council’s actions in later years. We cannot investigate a complaint on behalf of Mr Y because he used his legal remedy against the Council at court. The complaint is made late. There is no significant injustice remaining which we can or should investigate.
Oxfordshire County Council (21 003 092)
Summary: The Council was at fault for failing to provide appropriate education and special educational provision to Ms X’s son. It was also at fault for not reviewing Ms X’s son’s Education Health and Care plan within the required timeframe. The Council has agreed to apologise, make a payment for loss of education and special educational provision and review its practices for Annual Reviews of Education, Health and Care plans.
Lancashire County Council (21 000 747)
Summary: The Council was not at fault for how it dealt with Mr B’s concerns about a foster child in his care, or for how it conducted his exit interview after he resigned as a foster carer. It was, however, at fault for how it dealt with his complaint. The Council has agreed to apologise to Mr B.
London Borough of Lambeth (21 012 224)
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about children service’s actions. It is unlikely we could obtain a significantly different remedy to a settlement Miss X has recently accepted.
Coventry City Council (21 014 336)
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about the actions of social workers. The matters complained of are not separable from those involving in an ongoing court process concerning the care of children.
Slough Borough Council (21 014 813)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the actions of social workers towards the complainant and his children because we cannot achieve anything significant by doing so.
Lancashire County Council (21 014 879)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council ignoring a court order about where Mr X’s grandchildren should live. Mr X has a right to return to court it would be reasonable for him to use as only a court can decide disputes about where children should live.
Reading Borough Council (21 003 327)
Summary: Mrs X complains that the Council failed to provide a suitable education for her daughter when she was unable to attend school due to ill health. She says the remedy offered is inadequate. She also states she was given inadequate information on the implications of home educating or the available alternatives. The Council is at fault and has caused injustice to Mrs X’s daughter. It has agreed an enhanced financial remedy and a service improvement.
Surrey County Council (21 010 490)
Summary: Ms X complained about the Independent Appeal Panel’s decision not to admit her daughter to a school she expressed a preference for. Ms X said the appeal panel did not consider her daughter’s individual circumstances and the criteria used was unfair. Ms X said this caused her family stress and anxiety. We find no fault with how the panel considered Ms X’s appeal.
Hampshire County Council (21 012 830)
Summary: We will not investigate Mr X’s complaint about the Council’s special educational needs team’s delays.
Cumbria County Council (21 013 505)
Summary: We cannot investigate this complaint about how the Council carried out an Education Health and Care needs assessment. This is because the complainant has used their right to appeal about the outcome to a tribunal, which places the matter outside our jurisdiction.
Kingston Upon Hull City Council (21 013 801)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about how the Council have assessed a child’s special educational needs, which the complainant says will result in an inadequate Education Health and Care plan. This is because the contend of the plan carry the right of appeal to a tribunal.
London Borough of Bexley (21 014 340)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s response to the complainant’s concerns about his daughter’s welfare. This is because it concerns matters which can be considered in Court.
London Borough of Lambeth (21 014 388)
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the Council’s actions in relation to the care of the complainant’s children. This is because the complaint does not meet the tests in our Assessment Code on how we decide which complaints to investigate. The decisions to remove the children were taken by the courts, and the matter is therefore not in our jurisdiction.
Staffordshire County Council (21 014 588)
Summary: We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint about an inaccurate children service’s report. It is unlikely we could achieve more than the Council’s offer to place Miss X’s comments next to the report.
Researching Reform 
It’s truly disappointing how families have to go to the LGO but there is no other way of complaining if the LGO get it wrong as sometimes they do apart from going to court which is something out of reach to most.
The other issue is that Local Authorities fail to learn any lessons even if they are found to be wrong and the stress distress damage both children and young people as well as their families/carers.
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If parents are complaining about social workers they can also complain to Social work England. they now handle complaints about social workers which used to be handled by the Heath and care professions council. As for if they are any better than the useless HCPC i dont know.
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“The law prevents us from considering complaints about matters that have been considered during court proceedings.”
Its sickening looking through this list of complaints to the LGO and seeing so many of them dismissed due to court involvement. this is not right as the LGO should still investigate mal treatment by S/workers no matter if they are in court proceedings or not. its such an easy get out for LA bad practice and this loophole needs to be closed.
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