LGO criticises councils over failure to support 'family and friends' foster carers

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets failed for six years to provide support for a ‘family and friends’ foster carer who took on three vulnerable children after their mother was unable to care for them, the Local Goverment Ombudsman has found.

Michael King said the courts had in 2007 set out what should happen in cases of ‘family and friends’ carers and the ombudsman service had issued a report on this in 2013.

“Despite this we are still seeing a disappointing number of cases where councils try to pass on responsibility to somebody else when records clearly show they should be responsible for supporting the children,” King said.

In the Tower Hamlets case, following a family crisis, a friend was asked to take the children to live with her and her own three children in a small three-bedroom council property as relatives were unable to accommodate them.

The single mother fosterer, who was only loosely connected to the family, was left without support from Tower Hamlets and had to buy clothes, beds and other items. The oldest two children only stayed for a month, but the youngest continues to live with her.

Tower Hamlets allowed the single mother to take on the children without any kind of assessment or background check, the Ombudsman said.

Although judged an excellent carer, support from the council was repeatedly refused, with officers claiming the fostering was a private arrangement. 

Commenting on the case, the Ombudsman said the council "was so involved in what happened it is hard to see how this could have been considered a private arrangement. The mother was not in any condition to consent to the woman taking on the children in the first place, and the final arrangement was made without the mother being present.

“I am pleased that the council has now agreed to our recommendations; however this is a case which could so easily have been resolved sooner. The child was fortunate to have been placed with someone, by accident rather than design, who could provide her with a loving home. We have asked the council to report back to us on what happened to the child’s two older siblings. ”

Tower Hamlets has accepted the LGO’s recommendations and agreed to pay the woman concerned as if she had been a ‘family and friends’ carer for the whole period, together with her costs in initially taking on the three children and for her legal advice, plus £500 compensation for the failure to resolve her complaint earlier.

The council, which has been contacted for comment, will also ensure in future that if it believes an arrangement is a private family one, all parties are aware of the nature of the arrangement and from where financial support may come.

A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “We fully accept the Ombudsman’s findings and we are grateful to the carer for the care she has provided, and continues to provide, to the children involved in this case. We have now reviewed our processes to make sure this does not reoccur in similar circumstances. We will shortly be compensating her for the time she cared for the children."

Mark Smulian