Summary: Miss X complained the Council did not provide the therapeutic support for her and her son, Y in line with a court ordered care plan. Miss X said some of the therapy was stopped and started and the Council did not provide the therapy for Y. The Council was at fault, it did not review the care plan properly and delayed in starting the therapy for Y. It agreed to apologise to Miss X and pay her a symbolic amount of £500 to recognise the frustration and uncertainty caused to her and to make service improvements.

The complaint

1. Miss X complained the Council did not provide the therapeutic support for her and her son, Y in line with the court ordered care plan. Miss X says some of the therapy was stopped and started and the Council did not provide therapy for Y. Miss X said this caused her distress, frustration and put her at risk of harm. Miss X wanted the Council to provide the therapy as it was ordered.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. 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 significant injustice, or that could cause injustice to others in the future we may suggest a remedy. (Local Government Act 1974, sections 26(1) and 26A(1), as amended)
3. If we are satisfied with an organisation’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)
4. Under our information sharing agreement, we will share this decision with the Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted).

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read the documents Miss X provided and discussed the complaint with her on the telephone.
6. I considered the documents the Council sent in response to my enquiries.
7. Miss X and the Council had an opportunity to comment on my draft decision. I considered any comments received before making a final decision.

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What I found

Relevant legislation and guidance

Supervision Order

8. If a Court is satisfied a child may be suffering, or likely to suffer harm because of the care provided to them, it can make a supervision order. A supervision order imposes a duty on a council to ‘advise, assist and befriend’ a child. It may require a child to live in a certain place, take part in certain activities or see certain family members. (Children Act 1989, section 31 and 35)

Care Plan

9. A care plan is a detailed plan about a child’s care arrangements written by the social workers that are involved in the child’s case. It explains arrangements for contact with family, plans for education and details of any foster or residential placement. It is subject to review at regular intervals. (Children Act 1989, section 31A)

Theraplay

10. Theraplay is a type of child and family therapy for behavioural, emotional or developmental issues. It aims to improve parent-child relationships through play and healthy interaction. It is usually suitable for children up to 12 years old.

Principles of Good Administrative Practice

11. Our Principles of Good Administrative Practice sets out the standards and core principles we expect councils to adhere to in administration of its services. The guidance states councils should be open and accountable, and to be able to do that it should:
• state the criteria for any decision making and give reasons for the decisions it makes;
• handle information properly and appropriately; and
• keep proper and appropriate records.

Council’s complaint policy

12. The Council’s complaint policy states it will acknowledge any complaint it receives in three working days. It will respond to the complaint within 20 working days (four weeks).

What happened

13. Miss X has a son, Y who lives with her and had previously been subject to an interim care order.
14. In September 2022 a Court made a 12-month supervision order for Y to stay in Miss X’s care. As part of the supervision order the Council developed a care plan for Y. The care plan stated Y would be provided 20 sessions of Theraplay with Miss X and Miss X would be provided 12 months of weekly (50 minutes) therapy which started in June 2022.
15. It said the Council would closely monitor and keep under review the progress of Miss X’s therapy and the impact on Y. It said it would complete a review at three, six and nine months. The review would include an update from Miss X’s GP and Miss X’s therapist (Dr G). Dr G would provide information on Miss X’s engagement, progress and readiness to begin Theraplay with Y.
16. The Council arranged for Miss X’s therapy to continue weekly. For reasons that are unclear Miss X received two sessions a week instead of one session.
17. The Council said it discussed Theraplay at the time and decided that Theraplay alongside two sessions of therapy per week would have been overwhelming for Miss X and therefore ineffective, so it did not arrange the Theraplay. It had no record of that decision making.
18. Dr G wrote to the Council in November 2022. They stated Miss X was engaging well, had completed 35 sessions and requested a further 40 sessions. The Council said it had been unaware that Miss X had been receiving two sessions a week from June 2022 and so all the funding had been used.
19. While the Council arranged for the funding to continue, the therapy sessions stopped in December 2022 and restarted in January 2023. The Council arranged for the twice weekly sessions to continue for a further five months. , plus the sessions Miss X had missed due to the administrative error.
20. Dr G wrote to the Council again in February 2023. They said Miss X was engaging well, provided a very brief overview and said the work was ongoing.
21. The Council asked Dr G to recommend a Theraplay therapist at the end of March 2023. It contacted a Theraplay provider (provider A) at the end of April that said it could provide a service. The Council had no record of how it decided Theraplay was now appropriate for Miss X and Y.
22. The Council contacted Provider A as Miss X had expressed concerns about what would be covered during the sessions. Provider A confirmed to the Council that the therapist would support Miss X with any past traumas that emerged as a result of the Theraplay.
23. Dr G wrote to the Council in May 2023. They said Miss X was engaging well, provided a very brief overview, and said the work was ongoing. The Therapy ended in June 2023.
24. Ms X complained to the Council in June 2023. She said the Council had not adhered to the care plan for Y.
25. At around the same time, the Council considered the supervision order and decided it was not necessary to extend it.
26. Ms X attended three sessions of Theraplay in July 2023.
27. The Council decided it was not necessary to continue with the care plan at the end of September 2023 as Miss X had made good progress. It recorded Theraplay was due to commence in July 2023.
28. The Council responded to Ms X at the beginning of September 2023. It said it partially upheld Miss X’s complaint because:
• the funding for the therapy stopped in November 2022 and a delay in reinstating the funding meant Miss X could not access the therapy in December 2022 and January 2023; and
• it should have arranged the Theraplay to start sooner.
29. The Council’s response did not offer an apology for the upheld complaint, or seek to identify the injustice caused to Miss X or how it would remedy any injustice caused.
30. Dissatisfied with the Council’s response, Miss X complained to us.
31. Provider A contacted the Council in October 2023 and said Miss X had declined to continue with Theraplay and had said the care plan was closed. The Council confirmed the Theraplay should still be offered. Provider A recontacted the Council and said Miss X did not want to engage with its service.
32. The Council wrote to Miss X in January 2024 and told her the offer of Theraplay for Y was still open and would remain so until 8 March 2024. Miss X could contact the Council if she wanted to access the Theraplay.

Further information

33. In response to my enquiries the Council said it did not request information from Miss X’s GP and did not provide any evidence of how it considered the information Dr G provided in November 2022, February 2023, and May 2023.
34. Miss X told me she was reluctant to access the Theraplay as she understood the therapy should go alongside it, so that if there was anything she found difficult to deal with she could discuss it with her therapist. Miss X also stated that at the time the order was made Y did not attend nursery full time, however, he now does, and she was worried that removing him from the setting to attend Theraplay would be unsettling for him.

My findings

35. The care plan made for the supervision order is clear that Miss X should have received 12 months of therapy. The Council thought it had arranged weekly sessions. For reasons that are unclear Miss X received twice weekly sessions. This caused a problem with funding and subsequently Miss X’s therapy stopped for a short period of time. The Council acted to reinstate it and then continued to provide double the amount of agreed therapy to ensure Miss X received 12 months of therapy. The administrative error was fault and caused a gap in Miss X’s therapy. However, the Council took appropriate action to remedy that injustice by providing further therapy sessions.
36. The care plan said the Council would closely monitor and review Miss X’s therapy at three, six and nine months. The reviews should have included information from Dr G and Miss X’s GP. Dr G should have provided advice on when Miss X should begin Theraplay with Y. The Council did not obtain information from Miss X’s GP. In addition, although Dr G provided a brief overview at the relevant intervals the Council did not review the information or ask for advice on Miss X’s readiness to begin Theraplay.
37. The Council said it did not offer Theraplay earlier because it believed it would be overwhelming for Miss X alongside the two sessions of therapy she was receiving. I am not persuaded by this for the following reasons:
• the Council has no record of it making this decision;
• the care plan states it would be for Dr G to inform the Council of Miss X’s readiness to begin Theraplay;
• the Council said it was not aware Miss X was receiving two sessions of therapy until November 2022 and so could not have factored that into its decision making earlier; and
• the Council did not provided any evidence of how it considered Miss X was ready to begin Theraplay in March 2023 when it began to source a Theraplay provider.
38. The Council’s failure to complete the reviews in line with the care plan was fault. It leaves uncertainty about whether the Council should have provided the Theraplay to Miss X and Y earlier. I have made an appropriate recommendation below. The Council said the offer of Theraplay for Y remains open. Miss X can contact the Council to arrange this should she wish.
39. The Council’s failure to keep clear and accurate records of its decision making at the time is not in line with our principles of good administrative practice and is fault. It is particularly important for children’s social care records where a child subject to court orders and care plans may wish to review their records in the future.
40. Miss X complained to the Council but it did not respond for nine weeks. This is five weeks longer than the timescales set out in its policy. It partially upheld Miss X’s complaint but failed to apologise for the fault it found, or to take any action to identify and remedy any injustice the fault may have caused to Miss X or Y. The Council’s poor complaint handling is fault and caused Miss X frustration.

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Agreed action

41. Within one month of this decision the Council will:
• write to Miss X and apologise for the avoidable frustration and uncertainty caused to her by the Council’s faults; and
• pay Miss X a symbolic amount of £500 to recognise the same.
42. We publish guidance on remedies which sets out our expectations for how organisations should apologise effectively to remedy injustice. The Council will consider this guidance in making the apology I have recommended.
43. Within one month of this decision the Council will:
• remind social care staff members to review care plans issued with a supervision order, in line with the arrangements specified in the care plan;
• remind social care staff of the importance of keeping clear, accurate and contemporaneous records of its decision making; and
• remind officers responding to complaints of the importance of apologising where it identifies fault in its actions, and identifying any injustice caused to the complainant and any appropriate remedies. The Council will share our Guidance on Effective Complaint Handling with relevant staff members.
44. The Council will provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

45. I have completed my investigation. I found fault causing injustice and the Council agreed to my recommendations to remedy that injustice and avoid the same fault occurring in the future.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman