Birmingham Children's Trust told to change handling of care complaints

The ombudsman's investigation started after a mother complained to it about the way Birmingham City Council handled her respite care complaint

An organisation wrongly handled complaints by families over respite care for children with disabilities, an ombudsman found.

Birmingham Children's Trust told families to appeal to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), but the body said it should have handled them itself.

A mother contacted the ombudsman over her complaint regarding the care awarded to her teenage son.

The trust accepted the findings.

Birmingham City Council delegated responsibility for social care services to Birmingham Children's Trust from April 2018.

The LGSCO said it had become concerned the local authority and Birmingham Children's Trust were sending parents straight to the ombudsman to lodge appeals over the number of hours they were to receive for respite care.

The mother got in touch with the ombudsman over her complaint regarding the care awarded to her teenage son, who has challenging behaviour, is autistic and has anxiety and communication difficulties.

Instead of handling her complaint through a statutory three-stage complaints process, the local authority told her to have her appeal "further reviewed" by the LGSCO.

The ombudsman said it had made it clear to the trust it was not an appeals body.

'Lack of understanding'

In its investigation, it said it had found 27 other families were wrongly told to appeal to the LGSCO in the past year.

"It is not - and has never been in our near 50 years of existence - our role to decide how much respite parents should receive," Michael King, from the watchdog, said.

"I am concerned about the council's lack of understanding of our role and of its own duties under the statutory complaints procedure."

Birmingham Children's Trust agreed to apologise to the mother, explain how it reached its decision and pay her £500.

A spokesperson said due to the ombudsman's findings it had made immediate changes to its practice and policy.

It will also amend its complaints policy and appeals process.