Ombudsman criticises council over mistreatment claim failures

The children, aged four and five at the time, told their adoptive mother that their foster carer had smacked them, gave them cold baths and made one of them wear a nappy meant for a disabled child.

An investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) found that Dudley Council looked into the case and the local authority designated officer (LADO) decided that the issue should be dealt with as a serious concern. However the council did not then go on to convene a planning meeting involving all the relevant officers.

Instead, the foster carer was told about the allegations before social workers had the chance to speak to the mother and children. The council decided that no further action should be taken, and social workers recorded the allegations as "unsubstantiated".

Some months later, after the adoptive mother made the council aware of further allegations, the council held a meeting chaired by an independent reviewing officer to look at whether the council had investigated the allegations properly.

That meeting decided any investigation might be traumatic for the children and cast doubt over whether sufficient evidence would be available given the time that had passed.

The mother then tried to take her complaint through the statutory complaints process but the council refused to take it through to the second stage despite government guidance stating that the council is obliged to ensure any complaint proceeds through the stages of the procedure if it is what the complainant wants.

The watchdog has asked the council to apologise to the mother, and create a plan for how it will interview the children “as a matter of urgency”.

It has also recommended that the council reminds staff to follow its managing allegations procedure, and review how it will investigate allegations in future.

Local Government Ombudsman Jane Martin said the statutory children’s complaints procedure "is not optional" and is "there to make sure vulnerable young people’s voices are being heard".

"The children themselves must be central to the complaint to ensure that their needs are met," she added.

“I would now urge Dudley Council to review its policies and procedures to ensure that it takes complaints from children with the seriousness they deserve.

Councillor Ian Cooper, cabinet member for children’s services, said:

“As a local authority one of our absolute priorities is our parental role to children in care, but in this case it is clear that our own very high standards have not been met.  

"We are currently going through a fundamental and comprehensive restructure in our children’s services directorate to make sure it can meet the challenges facing local government, while at the same time, ensuring looked after children have the best care and support for their start in life.

"In this case, which dates back to 2012, we have acknowledged the report from the Ombudsman and we will be following up the recommendations made.”