Ombudsman asks Staffordshire council to reconsider care leaver’s complaint

The woman, who is now in her 20s, took her complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman after the county council stated it could not investigate the matter as it related to events several years ago.

The Ombudsman has now recommended the council reconsider the request for the complaint to be investigated.

The complainant, referred to as Miss C in the Ombudsman’s report, was placed in an emergency foster placement in May 2011 before moving to a more permanent placement the following month. She later returned to her parents at the end of August but contacted the council again that October to seek help as she was 15 and pregnant and her parents did not want to support her.

Miss C wrote to the council nine years later, in November 2020, to complain about the care she had received as a teenager.

The Ombudsman’s report said: “Miss C said she had been told during a telephone call that the council did not have any record of her being in its care despite being placed in foster care in 2011. Miss C raised issues about her second foster care placement and that her concerns about this and feeling she had no alternative but to return home to her parents were not properly considered.

“Miss C says she was also not offered adequate support when she returned to her parents and after this arrangement broke down despite having a new baby. Miss C also asked why she had not received a care leavers’ grant and specific questions about the above events.

“The council responded to Miss C towards the end of January 2021 and apologised for the delay in replying. The council stated it could not investigate the matter she had raised under its complaint procedure as the matters happened some years ago and the legislation which supported the complaints procedure stated the council did not need to investigate complaints which were over 12 months old. However, the council was able to reply to some of Miss C’s specific questions.

“In response to our enquiries the council said it gave due consideration to Miss C’s circumstances and history in reaching its decision not to accept a late complaint. The council noted the matters Miss C had raised related to events some nine or 10 years ago and its involvement with her as an individual appeared to have stopped in 2014.

“The council says it did not consider a meaningful investigation could take place given the passage of time and says this was in line with the statutory guidance. The council noted it had attempted to answer some of Miss C’s questions to bring her some form of resolution outside of the statutory complaints process.”

The Ombudsman’ report was presented to Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet at a meeting on Wednesday (April 20)

Councillor Mark Sutton, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “Protecting children and young people is a priority for this council, so we take the investigation of any complaint very seriously. If the council declines to deal with a complaint in this area, which is past its submission deadline, then the authority has to demonstrate that it took certain factors into consideration before reaching its decision.

“We note that the Ombudsman has criticised us not for failing to take those factors into consideration, but for failing to reference that we had when writing to the complainant. We have updated our processes accordingly.

“There are some criteria when we decide whether to deal with complaints and in the case that is highlighted here a decision was made by the council that because it was out of time we would not investigate the complaint; albeit the complainant was provided with details of our investigation and what we had found. The complainant then raised that with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and they found that we had failed to relate the rationale to the complainant properly.

“They found fault with us and recommended as part of this we should reconsider the complaint and that is what we shall do.”