City council told to pay financial remedy to complainant over delays in dealing with child protection issues

Mr X, the complainant, said Stoke had made an assessment of his family circumstances which was incorrect, and had delayed making a reassessment of his circumstances. He added that he had suffered avoidable distress and financial loss as a result.

The council completed a Child and Family Assessment (CFA) in June 2023, which led Mr X to complain to the local authority about both the outcome and delays.

Stoke upheld his complaint and committed to updating the assessment, giving a completion date of October 2023.

However, the updated assessment was not completed until January 2024.

Mr X complained again to the council about the further delay and impact, which Stoke upheld.

The local authority apologised but did not agree to make a financial remedy.

The Ombudsman noted that the council had upheld Mr X’s complaint, finding that:

• the assessment should have been prioritised as had been agreed with Mr X in September 2023;
• it apologised for the delay;
• that it accepted this would have caused him upset and frustration and additional worry.

The Ombudsman found that these issues amounted to fault by the council.

Mr X said that he had been forced to cancel plans for himself and his partner to move in together in October 2023 because of the delay.

Stoke said in its stage 2 complaint response that it could, “not find any records of conversations with [the complainant] or directions asking him to maintain 2 houses or cancel your moving plans.”, and, “it is not the practice that we would provide financial assistance or alternative accommodation for adult family members for whom we have concerns.”

The council accepted that it had advised Mr X that his partner should have supervised contact with his children pending the parenting assessment that was being completed.

“In practice, on the balance of probabilities, this meant that Mr X and his partner would be unable to move in together as planned,” the Ombudsman said.

The Ombudsman said it did not agree with the council in respect of Mr X’s financial loss.

“This was not a normal situation. It had been brought about directly as a result of the council’s accepted fault. If the council had not upheld Mr X’s first complaint about the CFA in June 2023, and/or had not delayed the reassessment that it agreed to, Mr X would, on the balance of probabilities, have been able to move in with his partner together in November 2023. This represents a delay of three months.”

Mr X says this had cost him £4,724, broken down into rent, Council Tax and utility bills.

To remedy the fault, the Ombudsman recommended that Stoke apologise for the delays and pay the full amount of £4,724 in respect of Mr X’s financial loss.

Harry Rodd