Complaint Exposes Deficiencies in Hounslow Foster Care System
Lacked legally required policy on rights of family and friends
Hounslow Council fully accepts it was at fault
December 24, 2024
Hounslow Council has come under scrutiny after the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman identified failures in handling family and friends foster care arrangements. Following an investigation into a complaint made by a Hounslow resident, the Ombudsman found that the council lacked a legally required policy on family and friends foster carers.
The complainant (referred to as Mrs X in the report) had become a carer for the child of Ms M, as she was unable to provide her child consistent care. The child was placed in a child protection plan under the category of ’emotional abuse’.
In January 2022, the council arranged the transfer of care for the child, later assessing the child as being in the care of her father with the support of Mrs X.
Mrs X reduced her working hours and claimed she incurred expenses for the child’s care, however Hounslow Council informed her that financial responsibility rested with the family, maintaining that this was a private arrangement that did not require financial support.
The report details claims made by Mrs X that she spent over £1,000 on necessities for the child, only to be told support was unavailable. Mrs X believed this should have been the burden of the council since she claimed they placed the child in her care.
Mrs X contacted the council officer involved in the case several times requesting financial support. She said she wished to be the child’s ‘family and friends’ foster carer.
She also said that, at no point since she collected the child, had she gone through a foster assessment process. She told the officer she wished to go through one.
The officer responded in April 2022 saying it was unlikely Mrs X’s expenses would be reimbursed. She said: “Yes we asked if you could step in, just like we asked (maternal grandfather). In your case (Mr F) was away… The option if you could not step in was (the child) going into foster care.”
She went on to say the council could not pay Mrs X to look after the child outside a formal arrangement and the cost of any expenses were normally the responsibility of the family. She said Mrs X had agreed to support Mr F (the child’s father) with the child and as primary carer, he had parental responsibility.
The Ombudsman found that it was the responsibility of the child’s father to ensure Mrs X had received the correct support, and therefore dismissed the complaint. However, in the process of the investigation they discovered the council lacked a public policy on family and friends foster carers, as required by law.
Whilst this did not cause Mrs X an injustice, other carers may have found themselves unaware of their rights and responsibilities in future. Therefore, the Ombudsman directed the council to publish a comprehensive policy on this matter.
Councillor Samia Chaudhary, Cabinet Member for Education, Children, Skills, and Employment said, “We are reassured that the Ombudsman did not uphold the complaint against the council on this important issue. We are fully committed to the principle that in the first instance, children should be supported by their family networks.
“However, the council fully accepts the fault found regarding not having published up-to-date information available to extended families and friends who are caring for children. This is a complex area and has been subject to new guidance from the Government, and the council is now reviewing the different levels of advice and support available to families depending upon their circumstances, wishes and feelings and the child’s best interests.”
Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter