Ombudsman hits out at council for making “serious and unsubstantiated allegations” about asylum seeker

The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has accused a council of making “serious and unsubstantiated allegations” about a vulnerable, asylum-seeking mother.

The LGO said Sandwell Council had refused to let the mother have her representative present at an important meeting.

The mother lived with her son in a one-bedroomed flat, provided by the council. She was being supported in her claim for asylum by a not-for-profit organisation.

The mother complained to Sandwell about the help it was providing, including the suitability of her accommodation and the support offered to her child.

The Ombudsman said the complainant was subsequently barred from having representatives from her support organisation attend meetings with the council. “On one occasion, the council threatened to call the police if the woman’s representatives did not leave the place where a meeting was being held,” it claimed.

The LGO said that when it investigated, Sandwell made serious allegations about the mother and her representative’s conduct. “However, the council could not back up its claims or provide evidence it had started safeguarding procedures to ensure the safety of her son as a result of these allegations.”

It added that throughout the Ombudsman’s investigation, the council “made claims it could not justify or provide records or other evidence for, including that the representative organisation was motivated by financial incentives and that it sent abusive and threatening emails to the council”.

The LGO has called on Sandwell to:

• arrange for a senior officer to meet with the woman and her representatives to apologise in person for the unsubstantiated allegations made against them;
• remove the allegations from the record;
• apologise to the woman;
• pay her a token amount of £250 to acknowledge the distress it caused, and time and trouble she was put to pursuing her complaint;
• remind staff that families have a right to be accompanied to meetings by appropriate representatives;
• remind staff of the Health and Care Professions Council’s (now Social Work England) Standards of Proficiency for Social Workers in England;
• arrange to meet with the organisation representing the woman to develop a better understanding of each other’s aims and responsibilities and attempt to produce a working agreement;
• review its protocol for families with no recourse to public funds to explain those circumstances in which financial or other support may be restricted or withdrawn;
• review any literature given to families with no recourse to public funds to ensure it clearly explains their rights and its obligations to them.

The Ombudsman, Michael King, said: “This investigation has been characterised throughout by inconsistent evidence presented by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council. It has made serious and distressing claims it cannot substantiate, and yet we have seen no evidence to call into question the behaviour of either this mother or her representatives.

“Although the council now acknowledges the views expressed were those of an individual officer, throughout my investigation it presented those views as its own. I am particularly concerned the actions of the officer involved were supervised by managers and no interventions were made.

“This is not the first complaint we have upheld against the council in its dealings with this not-for-profit organisation. I now strongly urge the council to take on board the recommendations I have made to improve its services and hope it will now start to rebuild bridges with the representative’s organisation, which provides support to some of the most vulnerable people in its area.”

A joint statement on behalf of Sandwell Council and Sandwell Children's Trust said: "We fully take on board the feedback from the report and have worked swiftly to implement all the recommendations from the Ombudsman.

"We have apologised to the person who made the complaint and have measures in place to prevent a similar situation occurring in the future."