If you are unhappy with the service we have provided or arranged, it is important you raise the issue with us so we can try to sort things out.
You can complain if you're dissatisfied with our Children’s Social Care services and you are a:
- child or young person in need, or in care
- care leaver
- parent or a person with parental responsibility
- foster carer
- person considered to have sufficient interest in a child’s or young person's welfare
You can make a complaint on your own, or ask for extra support if you find it difficult to say what you feel. As a young person you have a right to be listened to and for your views to be taken seriously.
Advocacy support and advice
If you need help making your complaint, you can ask a friend, family member, carer or someone you trust to talk to us on your behalf. You can find out more about this on our advocacy page.
Whoever acts on your behalf, will need to provide written consent from you before we undertake an investigation or report back our findings to them on your behalf.
If you don’t know somebody who would be appropriate you can contact Coram Voice who will arrange an advocate that can help.
Contact Coram Voice
Call, free: 0808 800 5792
Email: help@coramvoice.org.uk
SMS: 07758 670 369
Online: www.coramvoice.org.uk
However if you would prefer, there are a number of charitable organisations you can approach which are listed in support and guidance.
Make a complaint about children’s social care
The Children’s Statutory complaints procedure is set out in accordance with The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure Regulations (2006). The Department of Education has provided statutory guidance and applicable legislation for local authorities to follow in regards to representations and complaints procedures.
If you are unhappy about something, you can contact a member of staff to try and resolve the problem or ask for the details of their manager. If you’re unsure about who to contact, you can contact the Complaints Service Team or Customer Services, who will arrange for the relevant person to contact you.
They will try to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and provide an appropriate action to resolve your concern.
If you would like to make a formal complaint, we follow a three-stage process.
You can make a complaint online, in My Account. It's quicker, you can monitor the progress of your complaints and view a history of previous cases.