Council failed to look after girl
A council has been urged to pay £50,000 compensation to a young girl and her grandparents after failing to assess the grandparents as carers.
A report by the Local Government Ombudsman said Birmingham City Council "utterly failed to carry out its duty" to the girl, known only as Natasha.
It said the girl was deprived of four years of family life as a result of the council's "incompetence".
A council spokesman said the council accepted the Ombudsman findings.
The Ombudsman has recommended the council pay £40,000 compensation to Natasha and a further £10,000 to her grandparents recognising they were deprived of caring for their granddaughter.
Unreasonable delays
It also recognises they suffered stress and anxiety from their treatment by the council and incurred considerable expenses in fares and telephone calls when contacting agencies.
A solicitor, acting on behalf of Natasha, said the council failed to comply with a court order promoting contact with members of her family living abroad.
The order, which placed her in council care, was made after Natasha swallowed her mother's methadone and was later assessed as living in a violent home.
It included specific instructions about contact with her grandparents who had looked after her previously.
"Yet the council failed to have any contact with Natasha, to supervise the placement or to comply in any way with the contact order made by the courts for the next 18 months," the Ombudsman said.
No social workers
The council also failed to asses her grandparents as prospective carers and moved her to foster carers when a placement with her mother broke down instead of contacting her grandparents as the court order required.
The council also sought to prevent her grandmother from caring for her on a visit to England.
The council spokesman said: "Birmingham City Council has accepted the Ombudsman findings in this case and agreed to the settlement proposed.
"The Ombudsman noted in the report that extensive changes in practice have been made since 2003, and no further recommendations are necessary."
Source: The BBC (22/03/2007)
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