Summary: Miss B complained about the actions of the Council in respect of her child who was a looked after child. We found the Council took too long to respond to her complaint but its apology and offer of £550 is an adequate way of putting matters right.

The complaint

1. Miss B complained that Milton Keynes Council (the Council), in respect of her son who is a looked after child:
• carried out an unfair and inaccurate parenting assessment in respect of contact arrangements;
• failed to carry out section 47 child protection enquiries when Miss B raised concerns about the care of her son; and
• delayed in responding to her complaint about these matters.
2. This has caused Miss B distress and uncertainty about the care of, and contact with, her child.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

3. 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)
4. 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)

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What I have and have not investigated

5. I have not investigated the first part of the complaint as this relates to a parenting assessment report which was produced as part of care proceedings. This will be considered by the court.

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How I considered this complaint

6. I have considered the complaint and the documents provided by the complainant, made enquiries of the Council and considered the comments and documents the Council provided.
7. 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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What I found

8. Miss B’s son was taken into foster care following care proceedings and a Care Order. The Council had to produce an updated parenting assessment which would be taken back to court to consider permanent care arrangements.
9. The Council completed the updated parenting assessment in December 2023 and Miss B complained to the Council. She was unhappy with the process leading to the report and the report itself. She also complained that the Council had failed to follow-up concerns she had raised about her son when she had spent time with him.
10. The Council responded to her complaint at stage one of the complaints procedure on 19 January 2024. It said that concerns about her son had been followed up and the Council was satisfied with the explanations provided.
11. Miss B escalated her complaint to stage 2 at the end of January 2024. She contacted us in May 2024 as she had not received a further response. Following numerous contact from us, the Council sent a stage 2 response to Miss B on 9 August 2024. It said the Council could not respond to the complaint due to ongoing court proceedings.
12. I started investigating the complaint in September 2024. The Council sent a second stage two response to Miss B on 19 November 2024. It provided more information about the parenting assessment and the care proceedings. It apologised for the time it had taken to resolve her complaint and offered her £550.

Analysis

13. As the parenting assessment is being considered by the court as part of care proceedings, I cannot investigate anything to do with the report. The Council has provided a response to Miss B’s concerns, and she will have the opportunity to put her views to the court.
14. The Council said it followed up the concerns she raised about her son and was satisfied with the responses.
15. I consider the Council did take far too long to respond to her stage two complaint: 10 months. But I consider the apology and offer of £550 are an appropriate way of putting matters right and are in excess of the amounts suggested in our Guidance on Remedies.

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Final decision

16. I have completed my investigation as the action taken by the Council has resolved the injustice caused to Miss B by the delay in the complaints process.

Investigator’s decision on behalf of the Ombudsman

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman