Council to backdate allowances for 340 carers after Ombudsman investigation

A city council has agreed to backdate allowances for around 340 carers after the Local Government Ombudsman found that the authority had been underpaying them.

The LGO has recommended that the original complainant, Mrs X, receive more than £10,000 alone from Liverpool City Council.

Mrs X complained that in 2010 the local authority had failed to recognise that when – following a domestic violence incident – she cared for her nephew, the child should have been considered as a ‘looked after child’ and so Liverpool should have provided her with appropriate financial support.

The complainant also argued that when she obtained a Special Guardianship Order for her nephew in 2012, the council’s decision as to what it should pay her was flawed.

Following an investigation, the LGO found that Liverpool:

  1. should have recognised Mrs X’s nephew (and his siblings) as looked after children in 2010 and Mrs X should have been paid a family and friends fostering allowance while caring for them;
  2. failed to consider whether it should remove an amount for child benefit from her Special Guardianship Allowance as the Government recommends against doing so;
  3. failed to pay Mrs X Special Guardianship Allowance at the same rate as it pays Fostering Allowance to its foster carers, as is required by law; and
  4. failed to pay its foster carers who care for children aged 0-4 years old at the National Minimum Fostering Allowance rate set by the Government each year.

With the latter two issues potentially affecting other foster carers and others, the Ombudsman asked Liverpool to consider a suitable remedy for those affected.

Nigel Ellis, Executive Director for Investigations at the LGO, said: “Many councils struggle to recruit carers to look after children who find themselves – for whatever reason – unable to be looked after by their parents.

“So it is only fair that these people, who do such a good job of giving children the chance of family life, get the benefits and allowances they rightly deserve. These allowances are not ‘pay’ – they are used to clothe and feed the children being looked after.”

He added: “I’m pleased to say that Liverpool City Council has quickly accepted it is at fault and has agreed to backdate the benefits to both the complainant and the 340 other carers affected. I hope this swift response will go some way to alleviate the trouble the underpayment may have caused.”

Ellis urged other local authorities to look at their own procedures to ensure that carers in their areas were not experiencing the same problems that those in Liverpool had encountered.

In addition to receiving £10,912 in backdated allowances, Mrs X will be provided with notification about the rate at which she will be paid the Special Guardianship Allowance. Liverpool has also agreed to pay that allowance without the deduction of child benefit while she is in receipt of Income Support.

The council will meanwhile:

  • carry out a review of its practice of deducting Child Benefit from those on Income Support in receipt of Special Guardianship Allowance;
  • backdate payment of its Special Guardianship Allowance at the same rate as its Fostering Allowance rate from April 2010. This affects around 146 people;
  • pay all foster carers, looking after children under four, the Fostering Allowance in line with or above National Minimum Fostering Rates from April 2013 and will backdate the underpayment to April 2011. This covers an additional 194 carers. 

Last week the London Borough of Tower Halmets failed in a Court of Appeal bid to overturn a ruling that its policy of differential treatment of family foster carers and unrelated foster carers was unlawful.