Consider all options when taking steps to safeguard children, LGO tells councils

The Local Government Ombudsman has reminded councils to fully consider their options when taking steps to safeguard potentially vulnerable children.

The LGO issued the reminder after an investigation into how Sandwell Council managed an allegation about a foster carer of two young children.

The council’s actions to remove the children urgently from the home were later described as a ‘knee-jerk reaction’ at a Position of Trust meeting convened to discuss the case.

The Ombudsman said its investigation report, which can be viewed here, highlighted that, “while councils are duty bound to act promptly in response to safeguarding risks, they also must have fully weighed up their options and the impact of any subsequent actions, and have recorded these decisions”.

Social workers at Sandwell acted after a serious allegation was made against the foster carer, who was the sole carer for two children, then aged six and seven.

The council had been told by the police that the foster carer would be arrested, and 90 minutes later, at approximately 9.40pm, social workers woke the children from their beds and removed them.

“There was no evidence that a strategy discussion took place to decide the best way of removing the children from the man’s care, and that the course of action they took was the only option available to them,” the LGO said.

The only recorded discussion was a Position of Trust meeting held the day before the children were returned home, it added.

The police later identified that the allegations made against the foster carer were unfounded, and considered them to be malicious.

Sandwell returned the children two weeks after the police closed the case, and some four weeks after the initial event.

The foster carer subsequently complained to the Ombudsman about his treatment. He argued that he was not given the proper support while he was under suspicion, and was not kept informed of the council’s actions and decisions following the allegations.

The council was accused of breaching National Minimum Standards and its own handbook in respect of agreeing to pay a fostering fee when it suspended him.

The LGO recommended that Sandwell:

• Apologise to the foster carer and to the two children. It was also told to place a copy of the LGO report in the children’s files “to help answer any questions they may have about the matters when they are older”.
• Review its policies in respect of carrying out and recording strategy discussions to ensure they comply with statutory guidance;
• Arrange training for staff “to remind them of the need to carry out and record strategy discussions”;
• Issue a new handbook for foster carers by the end of 2015;
• Pay the children £500 each into their savings accounts for the time when they leave care; and
• Pay the foster carer £750, comprising £500 for the avoidable uncertainty and £250 for the unnecessary time and trouble he went to.

The council has agreed to implement the recommendations.

Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “Essential safeguarding processes are in place not to add time and bureaucracy, but to ensure that children’s welfare is paramount.

“Clearly, councils do not take a decision lightly to urgently remove a child from their home, however they must be able to demonstrate they have thought about all their options and considered the child’s best interests.

“I am pleased that Sandwell Council has agreed to my recommendations to address the impact this had on the family and to make improvements to avoid something similar happening to others.”