Birmingham City Council ‘lost’ contact with a disabled child for four years, according to a report from the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO).
The ombudsman said the council lost sight of the girl, who has complex needs including autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyspraxia, from November 2006 until March 2011.
It said the council failed to assess the girl properly and failed to consider the needs of her mother, who was a single parent with little family support. The council had agreed to complete a core assessment in 2012 following a complaint to the LGO, but social workers failed to carry this out.
Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: ‘For much of this girl’s life, her mother has been left to bring up her child alone and without much help from the council. Birmingham City Council has had no idea what her needs were or those of her mother. And when they made attempts to assess her, the council admits its service was poor, unsupportive and not focused on an outcome for the girl.
‘The council has failed to provide me with evidence that it knows what this girl’s needs are, what her mother’s needs are as a carer and how those needs can be met in the future. It has singularly failed to assess the family’s needs and cannot possibly say that the direct payments it has offered to the family are sufficient.’
The council has agreed to pay the mother compensation and will appoint an independent social worker to assess the girl’s and her mother’s needs.
A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: ‘We have made improvements to our procedures, including increased senior management oversight and an updated system for responding to complaints, including the tracking of any follow-up action and gathering customer feedback. We have also put in place further staff training to improve quality of single assessments.’
