Summary: Ms X complained that the Council did not act on safeguarding concerns she raised, about a lack of support for her as a foster carer, and about the way the Council handled her complaint. Ms X said this caused frustration and concern. Largely we do not find the Council at fault. However, we find the Council at fault for failing to log Ms X’s complaint. As recommended by the Ombudsman, the Council has apologised to Ms X for the injustice caused by this failure.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complains about the Council’s support of her as a foster carer. Specifically, Ms X complains that the Council:
1. failed to acknowledge or act on complaints she raised about the preparedness of the proposed caregiver and safeguarding concerns;
2. failed to provide adequate support for her as a foster carer;
3. failed to address her complaint about the poor quality of support the Council offered and advice given by a social worker;
4. failed to address her complaint about putting the child, carer, and birth parents at risk by failing to carry out adequate risk assessments and in requiring contact to take place in an unsafe environment; and,
5. failed to respond to her complaint in a timely manner.
2. Ms X says she is sad that the Council did not prioritise the child’s needs. She says she felt stressed for the child and other children who may experience the same poor service. She says she feels frustrated and concerned about the lack of acknowledgement, reassurance, and accountability about the concerns she raised. She says she is sad and frustrated that Council staff’s lack of professionalism is preventing her from continuing in a much-needed role.

Back to top

What I have investigated

3. I have investigated the Council’s actions about Ms X’s safeguarding concerns, its support of her as a foster carer, and its responses to her complaint. However, I cannot investigate all of part a of Ms X’s complaint because of the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. The final section of this statement explains this further.

Back to top

The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word fault to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’. If there has been fault which has caused an injustice, we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
5. We cannot question whether a council’s decision is right or wrong simply because the complainant disagrees with it. We must consider whether there was fault in the way the decision was reached. (Local Government Act 1974, section 34(3), as amended)
6. If we are satisfied with a council’s actions or proposed actions, we can complete our investigation and issue a decision statement. (Local Government Act 1974, section 30(1B) and 34H(i), as amended)
7. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
8. We cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. (Local Government Act 1974, Schedule 5/5A, paragraph 1/3, as amended)
9. Under the information sharing agreement between the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted), we will share this decision with Ofsted.

Back to top

How I considered this complaint

10. I considered the information and documents provided by Ms X and the Council. I spoke to Ms X about her complaint. Ms X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on an earlier draft of this statement. I considered all comments and further information received before I reached a final decision.
11. I considered the relevant legislation and statutory guidance, set out below. I also considered the Ombudsman’s published guidance on remedies.

Back to top

What I found

What should have happened

Foster Carers

12. In 2011, the Department for Education published the National Fostering Minimum Standards. This guidance sets out the standards of support councils should give foster carers.
13. The guidance says peer support, foster carer associations and/or self-help groups are to be encouraged and supported. It says all foster carers should have access to adequate social work and other professional support, information, and advice. This is to enable foster carers to provide consistent, high-quality care to the child.
14. The guidance says foster carers should be supervised by a named, appropriately qualified social worker. The social worker should have meetings with the foster carer, including at least one unannounced visit per year.

Safeguarding children

15. Under the Children Act 1989, councils have a duty to safeguard children and promote their welfare. Anyone who has concerns about a child’s welfare should make a referral to the local authority’s children’s social care department and should do so immediately if there is a concern that the child is suffering significant harm or is likely to do so.

What happened

16. Ms X was a foster carer. Ms X cared for a child, who I will call C.
17. In summer 2020, the court decided to place C with her father. After a transition period, C left Ms X’s care and went to live with her father.
18. After this, in September, Ms X told the Council she had safeguarding concerns for C because of C’s father.
19. In November, Ms X emailed the Council raising further safeguarding concerns about C’s father. In this email, she also complained about the Council’s treatment of her as a foster carer.
20. In January 2021, Ms X complained to the Ombudsman. We referred this complaint back to the Council because it had not responded to the complaint.
21. In March, the Council sent its stage one complaint response. It said it was the court’s decision to place C with her father. It said C’s welfare would be monitored by a council.
22. The Council recognised there had been communication problems between Ms X and her supervising social worker. It said there had been a meeting with Ms X and the social worker to discuss this, and there was an action plan to avoid future miscommunication between them. It said it then reallocated a new social worker to Ms X.
23. The Council said it had offered Ms X a good level of support from the supervising social worker and six sessions of support from the Fostering Team’s psychotherapist.
24. Ms X asked the Council to deal with her complaint at stage two.
25. The Council’s stage two complaint response added to its earlier response that it offered Ms X an ongoing programme of training, the carers’ consultation forum, and a ‘buddy’ she could contact for additional support.

Analysis

Safeguarding

26. Ms X complains that the Council failed to acknowledge or act on safeguarding concerns she raised (part a of the complaint).
27. Ms X raised safeguarding concerns about C’s father in September 2020.
28. The social worker met with C’s father without delay and discussed the safeguarding concerns. The social worker assessed there were no safeguarding concerns. The social worker then passed this information to the father’s social worker (because the father lived in a different area to Ms X).
29. There was no suggestion that C’s father was causing C harm (physical, emotional, sexual abuse or neglect). For this reason, the Council had no grounds to formally investigate or make enquiries. I find the Council did what it should have done: it spoke to C’s father, addressed the concerns directly with him, and reassured itself there were no concerns. This is a decision the Council is entitled to make.
30. The Council also passed on Ms X’s concerns to the social worker from the other area, which is appropriate. I find this is evidence of good practice.
31. Ms X then raised further concerns in November 2020. C’s case was closed to the Council after September because C lived with her father in a different area. There was effectively nothing for the Council to follow-up on because the Council did not have responsibility for C at that time.
32. The Council recognises that it did not reply to Ms X’s second safeguarding concern. While this is not best practice, I do not find that failing to reply to one email is significant enough to constitute fault in these circumstances.
33. For these reasons, I do not find the Council at fault.

Support

34. Ms X complains that the Council failed to provide adequate support for her as a foster carer (part b of the complaint).
35. The guidance (the National Minimum Fostering Standards) sets out what support foster carers should get. I find that the Council offered Ms X:
• support from her supervising social worker, including a significant amount of phone support and at least six visits within a two-month period (including an unannounced visit);
• training;
• a ‘buddy’, who was an experienced foster carer, to provide emotional and practical support;
• six sessions with a fostering psychotherapist (whose role it is to support foster carers, not children);
• access to the carers’ consultation forum; and,
• access to the carers’ support group.
36. I find the Council offered Ms X more than the minimum support she was entitled to receive under the guidance. This is good practice.
37. Ms X complains that she had a poor working relationship with her supervising social worker. She says for that reason supervision with the social worker did not constitute support for the purposes of the National Minimum Fostering Standards.
38. I do not agree. The National Minimum Fostering Standards do not address the quality of a relationship between a supervising social worker and a foster carer.
39. Ms X may not have had a positive working relationship with her supervising social worker, but this does not amount to fault. In fact, the Council went to efforts to repair the relationship (the meeting followed by the action plan). It kept this under review, and when it was apparent it was not working, the Council allocated Ms X a new social worker. This is good practice.
40. Ms X says the support from the psychotherapist was for C, not for her. I do not agree.
41. For these reasons, I do not find the Council at fault.

Failure to address her complaint about the quality of support

42. Ms X complains that the Council failed to address her complaint about the poor quality of support it offered and advice given by a social worker (part c of the complaint).
43. I find that the Council addressed this part of Ms X’s complaint in both complaint responses. Ms X may not agree with the responses, but this does not mean the Council is at fault.
44. Ms X says she was not invited to certain Council meetings, including a professionals’ meeting. She does not believe the Council had these meetings because C’s social worker was not at the professionals’ meeting and did not know about it.
45. The child’s social worker has confirmed that she knew about, and attended, the professionals’ meetings. I find that the Council did have the meetings it said it did. I also find it was entirely appropriate that the Council did not invite Ms X to these meetings. It is not appropriate for a foster carer to be at meetings like that.
46. For these reasons, I do not find the Council at fault.

Failure to address her complaint about risk

47. Ms X complains that the Council failed to address her complaint about putting the child, carer, and birth parents at risk by failing to carry out adequate risk assessments and in requiring contact to take place in an unsafe environment (part d of the complaint).
48. I agree that the Council did not respond to this specific part of Ms X’s complaint. However, I do not consider that failing to respond to one part of a complaint is significant enough to constitute fault. I find the Council responded to the most important and significant parts of Ms X’s complaint.
49. For this reason, I do not find the Council at fault.

Failure to respond to her complaint in a timely manner

50. Ms X complains that the Council failed to respond to her complaint in a timely manner (part e of the complaint).
51. When Ms X emailed the Council in November with safeguarding concerns, she also made a complaint. She chased the Council for a reply after two weeks. The Council did not respond to the complaint until the Ombudsman’s involvement.
52. The Council recognises it did not log Ms X’s complaint in November. It says it did not log the complaint because the complaint was mostly focused on the court’s decision to place C with her father, which the Council could not consider.
53. I find the Council at fault for not properly logging Ms X’s complaint. This caused Ms X injustice because she spent time and trouble chasing the Council and waiting for a response.

Back to top

Agreed action

54. In response to an earlier draft of this statement, the Council agreed it would apologise to Ms X in writing for failing to log her complaint in November and for her time and trouble.
55. The Council has sent this apology letter to Ms X and shared a copy with the Ombudsman. The Ombudsman is therefore satisfied this has been completed.

Back to top

Final decision

56. I have completed my investigation and largely I do not find the Council at fault. However, I find the Council at fault for failing to log Ms X’s complaint. This caused injustice. The Council has taken action to remedy the injustice caused.

Back to top

Part of the complaint that I did not investigate

57. As I have said above, we cannot investigate a complaint about the start of court action or what happened in court. This includes assessments and reports prepared for court.
58. In part a of Ms X’s complaint, she complains that the Council failed to acknowledge or act on a complaint she made about C’s father’s preparedness. She complains that the Council did not complete a home visit or a home assessment of C’s father.
59. These are assessments completed for court. This is outside the Ombudsman’s jurisdiction. For this reason, I cannot investigate this part of Ms X’s complaint.

Back to top

Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman