Council to pay £30,000 over failure to do enough to support woman caring for young relative

A Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigation has found that Milton Keynes Council did not do enough to help ease the overcrowded living conditions of a woman who agreed to care for a relative’s child when they no longer could.

During the investigation the woman was offered £30,000 from the council to help alleviate the accommodation issues and to remedy the injustice caused.

The woman from Milton Keynes took over the care of a young relative under a Special Guardianship Order (SGO), which was arranged with the council. Initially she had joint care of the child with her parents, but when her parents struggled to cope, the child came to live with her full time.

However, there was not enough space in the woman’s two-bedroomed property, which she shares with her adult son. The child was forced to share a bedroom with the woman.

The council initially suggested that the adult son move out to a YMCA property to make room and offered the son a small amount to do so. However, the woman and son both said this was not enough and she needed her son’s help to care for the child.

The council suggested to the woman an extension to her current property or for her to rent out her home and then rent a larger property, but neither option was suitable.

The woman was also asked to provide details of the amount it would cost to purchase a larger property over and above what she had paid for her two-bedroom property, but the council rejected this option as it was too costly.

The council offered the woman and her son increasing amounts for him to move out, but the Ombudsman investigation noted that these were limited time offers, would not have given him any security and failed to recognise the importance of his caring help.

During the Ombudsman’s investigation, the council increased its offer to the family to £30,000 to be used as either a deposit for a house, or to support the adult son to move to a larger property.

The investigation found the council was not clear with the family about the support it would offer prior to them taking on the SGO. It also found there was a 12-month delay in completing a needs assessment.

Milton Keynes was also criticised by the way it failed to consider a detailed social work report, looking at the child’s welfare if the adult son moved out of the property. It has also not shown how it has calculated its financial offer to the family, which is fault, the Ombudsman said.

Michael King, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said: “Because of the lack of support from the council, the woman says she has been left living in unsuitable conditions and been put under significant stress. The strain has also affected her relationship with her mother and stepfather.

“I am pleased the council has now offered a significant amount to the family which we believe is fair and hope this will go some way to helping alleviate their accommodation issues.”

A spokesperson for Milton Keynes said: “We have since reviewed and have been making changes to how we support our Special Guardians who take on the care of a child on behalf of a family. It’s important to us that our Special Guardians feel supported and valued and we’re sorry we didn’t initially get it right in this instance.”

In this case the council has agreed to apologise to the woman, pay her £30,000 for the accommodation and a further £500 to recognise the time and trouble she went to.

Milton Keynes has agreed to review how it agrees and arranges special guardianship care order plans to ensure they are clear on the support, including financial help, it will provide.

It will also carry out training for members of panels that consider requests for SGO payments to ensure they are aware of the need to consider any social work reports and record the reasons for its decisions where it decides not to follow the social work recommendation.

Lottie Winson