Summary
C complained that the council had failed to keep their child (A) safe whilst in the council’s care and that A had been inappropriately placed in secure accommodation. A had been in care in a number of different settings, including secure units. Some were run by third party care providers or the NHS. It was accepted by the council that A had been able to harm themselves whilst in care and that A had been placed in secure accommodation when the council was not legally entitled to do so. The council said that some incidents had occurred despite the best efforts of staff to keep A safe.
We took independent advice from a registered social worker. We found that the council had taken reasonable steps to try and ensure A’s safety, and had worked with third parties to ensure incidents were fully reviewed. They had also taken reasonable steps to prevent a reoccurrence of the error that led to A being accommodated. We did not find communication with C had been unreasonable given C’s restrictions on the kind of communication that they would accept from the council. We did not uphold these aspects of the complaint.
Related reading
View Decision Report 202302482 as a PDF (24.31 KB) Updated: December 18, 2024