Summary: The Council had accepted fault in the way it dealt with the complainant when her young daughter was living away from home. We find that the Council has not fully remedied the resulting injustice. We have recommended a small symbolic payment to recognise the avoidable distress and lost opportunity caused by the Council’s faults. The Council has accepted this. Therefore, we are closing the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to as Ms X, complained:
1. that in November 2021 the Council placed her daughter, Child B, at a stranger’s place and the complainant still does not understand why. She has been told the Police made this decision but the complainant disputes this;
2. that the Council sought permission for this placement from Child B’s grandmother rather than from the complainant, who has parental responsibility; and
3. the carer was given food vouchers, knowing that the complainant did not agree to the placement.
2. The Council has investigated the complaint and, in July 2022, upheld it and apologised. Ms X is dissatisfied because she does not consider the Council recognises the distress caused to her and an apology is not sufficient.

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What I have and have not investigated

3. I have investigated the Council’s actions of November 2021. I have not investigated the actions of the Police or Child B’s school.

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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 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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How I considered this complaint

7. I made enquiries of the Council. It has sent me information which cannot be disclosed to Ms X. As the Council has upheld Ms X’s complaints, I am only providing a brief account of what happened and have looked primarily at the resulting injustice to Ms X from the accepted faults.
8. I issued a draft decision statement to the Council and to Ms X, and I have taken into account their further comments when reaching my final decision.
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.

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What I found

The Children Act 1989

10. Parents have parental responsibility for their children and are the prime decision makers.
11. The Children Act sets out the circumstances where a council may become involved in family life because of concerns for a child’s welfare. The law places an overarching duty on the Council to act in the best interests of the child.
12. The Council may receive referrals from children, parents or third parties expressing concerns about a child’s welfare. These referrals should be considered under safeguarding procedures, used by councils to investigate such concerns. Safeguarding procedures will often involve other agencies such as schools and police who will have an involvement in a child’s welfare. There is normally a multi-agency strategy meeting to decide how best to deal with these referrals.
13. Some referrals engage Section 47 of the Children Act. This provides for the Council to respond to concerns a child may be at risk of ‘significant harm’. This covers the risk of physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect.
14. Section 47 of the Children Act allows the Council to make enquiries with all agencies who work with a child and the family. Social workers should also see the child as soon as possible. Once the Council completes this initial assessment it can take a range of actions. It can close a case where it finds no grounds to substantiate concerns and no reason to take any other action. Or it could act to place a child into its care under section 20 (s20) or through legal action. The provision of accommodation under s20 does not remove the parent’s parental responsibility and a parent can ask for the child to be returned to their care at any time.
15. Alternatively, the council might provide services under Section 17 of the Children Act to help and support the child and the family.

Police powers

16. Where a young person goes missing, parents/carers should report this to their local Police. Police have the responsibility for finding missing young people.
17. The Police can also remove children, for up to 72 hours, to a safe place under a police protection order, where they consider a child is at risk of harm.

Facts of the case

18. Ms X says that Child B was doing well at home and at school and was enjoying working with the horses which they owned. One of her favourite horses had to be put down, after an accident, and Ms X says that Child B was devasted. Her behaviours changed both at home and at school and she was excluded from school for a short period. Ms X says that Child B became involved with a young boy who was a bad influence on her. Ms X says that she asked for help from the Council’s Early Help Team, but this was refused.
19. Ms X says that she found Child B’s behaviours very difficult because she had recently experienced a very traumatic event and she just wanted to protect her daughter.
20. In early November 2021, Ms X decided that it would help Child B, and their relationship which had become strained, if Child B stayed with her grandmother for a short period. Child B’s school provided her with online learning. Child B then ran away from her grandmother’s house, and she was reported missing to the Police. The Police became involved. Child B had a school friend who lived close to the school. Child B wanted to stay with her friend and her mother (Ms Y). Child B made allegations about Ms X, (which Child B subsequently retracted).
21. The Police saw Child B, late in the evening, and it was felt that she would sleep rough if returned to the home of any family member. The Police recorded that it was using its police protection powers for Child B to remain at Ms Y’s address. The Police referred the matter to the Council’s out of hours children services that night.
22. A social worker visited Ms Y and saw Child B the next day. The social worker was satisfied with the arrangement but explained that the Council would undertake a s47 investigation in view of Child B’s allegations. Ms X made it clear to the social worker that she did not want Child B to remain at Ms Y’s and she raised concerns about Child B’s behaviours, asking that she be helped.
23. The Council allowed Child B to remain at Ms Y’s home after the expiry of the police protection order, the Council says with the permission of the grandmother.
24. Child B decided to return to Ms X’s care two weeks later. Ms X says Child B looked unkempt, tired and hungry. The Council says that no concerns were raised with it about Ms Y’s care, and it was satisfied that the care provided was appropriate.

The Council’s complaint findings

25. The Service Manager of Children Services made enquiries about Ms X’s complaints and discussed them with her. The Council upheld the following complaints: that Ms X had not been provided with a response as to why Child B was placed with Ms Y; that after the police protection ended, the Council should have returned Child B to Ms X’s care or a carer of her choice and that Ms Y was provided with financial help even though Ms X did not want Child B to stay there. The Council remedied the complaint by apologising to Ms X and ensuring the social work staff were reminded of the need to involve those with parental responsibility in decision making.

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Findings

26. Ms X was recovering from a traumatic experience herself, as was Child B, and Ms X became very worried about the risks to her daughter when she started seeing an older boy, who Ms X thought was a bad influence. Ms X felt that Child B needed help and staying with her grandmother may help. Sadly, this arrangement was short-lived and Child B wanted to stay with her school friend and family (Ms Y). The Police initially agreed this arrangement under its protection powers.
27. My findings are as follows:

Complaint (a): wrong information provided as to why Child B was placed at Ms Y’s home

28. The Police were involved when Child B was reported missing. It seems that the Police assessed that it was safer for Child B to remain with Ms Y rather than place her back home against her wishes, for fear that she would run away again. I cannot investigate the Police’s actions. But I consider that the Council has provided Ms X with correct information about why Child B stayed at Ms Y’s house. So, based on the evidence available, I do not consider the Council has been at fault.

Complaint (b): allowed Child B to remain at Ms Y’s home against the wishes of Ms X

29. The Council has accepted that Ms X had parental responsibility and her wish for Child B to be moved from Ms Y’s address should have been acted upon. The Council had no power, after the end of the police protection order, to decide what should happen to Child B. That was a decision for Ms X to make.
30. It is to the Council’s credit that it has accepted fault here. But my view is that it is too speculative to say what might have happened if the Council had acted on Ms X’s wish to remove Child B from Ms Y’s home. However, I recognise that Ms X was side-lined by the Council and it showed little respect for the fact that she had the legal decision-making responsibility for her daughter. There was also a lost opportunity to ensure Child B’s return home sooner.

Complaint (c): that the Council provided Ms Y with financial help knowing Ms X wanted Child B removed

31. It is the case the Council helped Ms Y financially, but the amount was small, and it was for the benefit of Child B. I accept that financial help to Ms Y would have been unnecessary if the Council had followed Ms X’s wishes that Child B was removed. But I consider that the Council’s intention was to safeguard Child B’s interests and therefore I do not find fault.

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How the Ombudsman remedies complaints

32. The Ombudsman’s guidance on remedies makes the following points:
• for injustice such as distress, harm or risk, the complainant cannot usually be put back in the position they would have been, but for the fault. Therefore, we usually recommend a symbolic payment to acknowledge the impact of the fault;
• there must be a clear and direct link between the fault identified and the injustice to be remedied;
• distress can include uncertainty about how the outcome might have been different;
• where the avoidable distress was severe or prolonged, up to £1,000 may be justified but we may recommend more in exceptional cases.

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Agreed action

33. The Council has already apologised to Ms X. I consider that it is difficult to say what the outcome might have been but for the Council’s faults. But there were lost opportunities to act in accordance with Ms X’s request and legal requirements on the Council, and Ms X will be left wondering whether the outcome may have been different.
34. The Council has agreed that, within one month of the final statement, the Council will make a symbolic payment of £350 to Ms X for the avoidable distress and lost opportunity. The Council has taken action to learn from this complaint, so I am not recommending any specific service improvements.
35. The Council should provide us with evidence it has complied with the above actions.

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Final decision

36. The Council had already found fault but it did not consider fully the injustice caused or a remedy for this. The Council has now agreed the recommended remedy. Therefore, I am closing the complaint.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman