Complaints about children and young people's services

If you are a child or young person and need help making a complaint, you can get in touch with the BeHeard Advocacy Service to request an advocate. Advocates are independent from the council and can help make sure your views are heard or simply give you advice.

Be Heard Advocacy Service (part of Reconstruct) provide advocacy services for :

Children and young people up to 18 years old who wish to make a complaint about a social care service.
Children and young people in care up to 21 years old, or 24 years old if they are still in education.
Children and young people subject to Child Protection plans from 11 years old and up.
Children and young people with disabilities up to the age of 25.

Be Heard can be contacted via:

📞Call 0800 3891 571
📱 Visit: Gloucestershire Partner Portal - Reconstruct UK
✉ Email: advocacy.gloucestershire@reconstruct.co.uk
Or ask your social worker to contact Reconstruct

You can also ask Childline for advice on 0800 1111.

If you are a child or young person and need help making a complaint, you can get in touch with the BeHeard Advocacy Service to request an advocate. Advocates are independent from the council and can help make sure your views are heard or simply give you advice.

Be Heard Advocacy Service (part of Reconstruct) provide advocacy services for :

Children and young people up to 18 years old who wish to make a complaint about a social care service.
Children and young people in care up to 21 years old, or 24 years old if they are still in education.
Children and young people subject to Child Protection plans from 11 years old and up.
Children and young people with disabilities up to the age of 25.

Be Heard can be contacted via:

📞Call 0800 3891 571
📱 Visit: Gloucestershire Partner Portal - Reconstruct UK
✉ Email: advocacy.gloucestershire@reconstruct.co.uk
Or ask your social worker to contact Reconstruct

You can also ask Childline for advice on 0800 1111.

Informal local resolution

Where possible, we will arrange for the relevant team manager to contact you to see if they can resolve your concerns informally. If you are not satisfied with the response you have received, we will then investigate your feedback as a Stage 1 complaint (please see below).

Stage 1 complaint

If an informal local resolution is not possible, we will aim to acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days. This 2 working day timeframe does not include the day your feedback was received. The acknowledgement will let you know who will be investigating your concerns, provide you with relevant contact details, and let you know when you can expect a response. Your issue(s) will then be looked at and we will aim to respond directly to you within 20 working days.

Should you contact us while the investigation is in progress, wanting further information or concerns to be considered as part of your complaint, the start date for the investigation will become the date we receive that information / those concerns. This means the response to your complaint will be delayed accordingly.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive or we have not sent a response within 20 working days, you can ask that your complaint be progressed to Stage 2. We recommend, so the momentum in resolving your complaint is not lost, that you request a Stage 2 investigation within 20 working days of receiving the Stage 1 response.

Stage 2 review

Once your request for a Stage 2 investigation has been received, a Complaints Manager will consider your request and aim to send you their decision within 10 working days.

Stage 2 complaint

If your request to progress your complaint to Stage 2 is accepted, an Investigating Officer and Independent Person will be appointed to look into your complaint. They will be drawn from a pool of independent people who have worked for other local authorities in the South West region doing similar roles, and are not employees of Gloucestershire County Council.

It is possible that there will be a short delay in appointing an Investigating Officer and Independent Person if they are not available to start immediately.

The investigation should take 25 working days from the time your complaint is agreed with the Investigating Officer though, in some cases, may take up to 65 working days.

The Investigating Officer and Independent Person will both write reports, detailing their findings, and a senior manager will then write to you advising of the steps they will be taking.

If you are not satisfied with the reports and / or the letter from the senior manager, you can ask that your complaint be progressed to Stage 3.

Stage 3 Review

Once your request for progression to Stage 3 has been received, a Complaints Manager will consider your request and aim to send you their decision within 10 working days.

Stage 3 complaint

If your request to progress your complaint to Stage 3 is accepted, a Review Panel consisting of 3 Independent People will be arranged. One of these people will act as Chair. The Independent Person who considered your complaint at Stage 2 will not sit on the Review Panel.

The Panel records its findings and will notify you and a Director within 5 working days of the hearing.

A Director will send a response to the Review Panel’s recommendations to you within 15 working days of receiving the Review Panel’s report.

If the Review Panel has considered your complaint and you are not satisfied with the Director’s response, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO)

Once the complaints procedure has been exhausted, if you remain unhappy, you do have the right to contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO). The LG&SCO considers complaints about councils and some other organisations providing local public services. The service is free, independent and impartial.

You can contact the LG&SCO :

on 03000 610614
via their complaint form
at PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH

Further information on the process can also be found at www.lgo.org.uk.

Informal local resolution

Where possible, we will arrange for the relevant team manager to contact you to see if they can resolve your concerns informally. If you are not satisfied with the response you have received, we will then investigate your feedback as a Stage 1 complaint (please see below).

Stage 1 complaint

If an informal local resolution is not possible, we will aim to acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days. This 2 working day timeframe does not include the day your feedback was received. The acknowledgement will let you know who will be investigating your concerns, provide you with relevant contact details, and let you know when you can expect a response. Your issue(s) will then be looked at and we will aim to respond directly to you within 20 working days.

Should you contact us while the investigation is in progress, wanting further information or concerns to be considered as part of your complaint, the start date for the investigation will become the date we receive that information / those concerns. This means the response to your complaint will be delayed accordingly.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive or we have not sent a response within 20 working days, you can ask that your complaint be progressed to Stage 2. We recommend, so the momentum in resolving your complaint is not lost, that you request a Stage 2 investigation within 20 working days of receiving the Stage 1 response.

Stage 2 review

Once your request for a Stage 2 investigation has been received, a Complaints Manager will consider your request and aim to send you their decision within 10 working days.

Stage 2 complaint

If your request to progress your complaint to Stage 2 is accepted, an Investigating Officer and Independent Person will be appointed to look into your complaint. They will be drawn from a pool of independent people who have worked for other local authorities in the South West region doing similar roles, and are not employees of Gloucestershire County Council.

It is possible that there will be a short delay in appointing an Investigating Officer and Independent Person if they are not available to start immediately.

The investigation should take 25 working days from the time your complaint is agreed with the Investigating Officer though, in some cases, may take up to 65 working days.

The Investigating Officer and Independent Person will both write reports, detailing their findings, and a senior manager will then write to you advising of the steps they will be taking.

If you are not satisfied with the reports and / or the letter from the senior manager, you can ask that your complaint be progressed to Stage 3.

Stage 3 Review

Once your request for progression to Stage 3 has been received, a Complaints Manager will consider your request and aim to send you their decision within 10 working days.

Stage 3 complaint

If your request to progress your complaint to Stage 3 is accepted, a Review Panel consisting of 3 Independent People will be arranged. One of these people will act as Chair. The Independent Person who considered your complaint at Stage 2 will not sit on the Review Panel.

The Panel records its findings and will notify you and a Director within 5 working days of the hearing.

A Director will send a response to the Review Panel’s recommendations to you within 15 working days of receiving the Review Panel’s report.

If the Review Panel has considered your complaint and you are not satisfied with the Director’s response, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO)

Once the complaints procedure has been exhausted, if you remain unhappy, you do have the right to contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO). The LG&SCO considers complaints about councils and some other organisations providing local public services. The service is free, independent and impartial.

You can contact the LG&SCO :

on 03000 610614
via their complaint form
at PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH

Further information on the process can also be found at www.lgo.org.uk.

Not all complaints we receive will be dealt with using the Children’s Social Care complaints process (for example, if your complaint relates to Early Help, Child Protection, the EHCNA / EHCP process, or foster carer / adopter assessments, it will likely be considered under the Council’s Corporate Complaints process).

Informal local resolution

Where possible, we will arrange for the relevant team manager to contact you to see if they can resolve your concerns informally. If you are not satisfied with the response you have received, we will then investigate your feedback as a Stage 1 complaint (please see below).

Stage 1 complaint

If an informal local resolution is not possible, we will aim to acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days. This 2 working day timeframe does not include the day your feedback was received. The acknowledgement will let you know who will be investigating your concerns, provide you with relevant contact details, and let you know when you can expect a response. Your issue(s) will then be looked at and we will aim to respond directly to you within 20 working days.

Should you contact us while the investigation is in progress, wanting further information or concerns to be considered as part of your complaint, the start date for the investigation will become the date we receive that information / those concerns. This means the response to your complaint will be delayed accordingly.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive or we have not sent a response within 20 working days, you can ask that your complaint be progressed to Stage 2. We recommend, so the momentum in resolving your complaint is not lost, that you request a Stage 2 investigation within 20 working days of receiving the Stage 1 response.

Stage 2 review

Once your request for a Stage 2 investigation has been received, a Complaints Manager will consider your request and aim to send you their decision within 10 working days.

Stage 2

If your request to progress your complaint to Stage 2 is accepted, a senior manager who has not previously been involved with your complaint will be asked to reinvestigate the matter. They will aim to respond to you within 25 working days. If you are not satisfied with the senior manager’s response, you have the right to have your complaint considered by the Local Government Ombudsman.

Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO)

Once the complaints procedure has been exhausted, if you remain unhappy, you do have the right to contact the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO). The LG&SCO considers complaints about councils and some other organisations providing local public services. The service is free, independent and impartial.

You can contact the LG&SCO :

on 03000 610614
via their complaint form
at PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH

Further information on the process can also be found at www.lgo.org.uk.

Not all complaints we receive will be dealt with using the Children’s Social Care complaints process (for example, if your complaint relates to Early Help, Child Protection, the EHCNA / EHCP process, or foster carer / adopter assessments, it will likely be considered under the Council’s Corporate Complaints process).

Informal local resolution

Where possible, we will arrange for the relevant team manager to contact you to see if they can resolve your concerns informally. If you are not satisfied with the response you have received, we will then investigate your feedback as a Stage 1 complaint (please see below).

Stage 1 complaint

If an informal local resolution is not possible, we will aim to acknowledge your complaint within 2 working days. This 2 working day timeframe does not include the day your feedback was received. The acknowledgement will let you know who will be investigating your concerns, provide you with relevant contact details, and let you know when you can expect a response. Your issue(s) will then be looked at and we will aim to respond directly to you within 20 working days.

Should you contact us while the investigation is in progress, wanting further information or concerns to be considered as part of your complaint, the start date for the investigation will become the date we receive that information / those concerns. This means the response to your complaint will be delayed accordingly.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive or we have not sent a response within 20 working days, you can ask that your complaint be progressed to Stage 2. We recommend, so the momentum in resolving your complaint is not lost, that you request a Stage 2 investigation within 20 working days of receiving the Stage 1 response.

Stage 2 review

Once your request for a Stage 2 investigation has been received, a Complaints Manager will consider your request and aim to send you their decision within 10 working days.

Stage 2

If your request to progress your complaint to Stage 2 is accepted, a senior manager who has not previously been involved with your complaint will be asked to reinvestigate the matter. They will aim to respond to you within 25 working days. If you are not satisfied with the senior manager’s response, you have the right to have your complaint considered by the Local Government Ombudsman.

Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO)

Once the complaints procedure has been exhausted, if you remain unhappy, you do have the right to contact the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LG&SCO). The LG&SCO considers complaints about councils and some other organisations providing local public services. The service is free, independent and impartial.

You can contact the LG&SCO :

on 03000 610614
via their complaint form
at PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH

Further information on the process can also be found at www.lgo.org.uk.

Anonymous feedback - Anonymous feedback will be passed to the relevant department so that they are aware of the concerns, and can act upon them if necessary.

Child Protection Conferences - Complaints about a Child Protection Conference, the outcome of a conference, or the way in which decisions have been reached at a conference follow their own process.

Comments, questions and requests - Comments, questions and requests are not treated as complaints under our formal processes. They will, however, still be investigated and responses given.

We aim to acknowledge such contacts within 2 working days, letting you know who will be responding / providing you with relevant contact details. You should then receive a response within 20 working days (for information, this is not a statutory timeframe and may be extended).

Compliments - We are always thankful to receive complimentary remarks. The staff member or team being complimented will be made aware of them, and we will also notify the relevant manager.

Information Compliance - We cannot deal with complaints about Data Protection or Freedom of Information requests, as these fall under the Information Compliance complaints process. Further information on this procedure can be found at the following link : Information Compliance.

Legal matters - Regulation 8.1a of The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 states the following :

‘8. — (1) A local authority shall not consider, or further consider, representations under these Regulations to the extent that the representations concern any matter in relation to which —

(a) the complainant has stated in writing to the local authority that he is taking, or intends to take, proceedings in any court or tribunal’

The Council therefore has discretion in deciding whether to consider such representations when it is felt to do so might prejudice the conduct of any proceedings.

Should you have outstanding concerns once proceedings have concluded, you can then ask that the Council consider them. This should be within one year of those processes concluding, and you would need to be aware that the complaint outcome would not change a decision made by the court.

One year time limit - We will not normally consider complaints made more than one year after the alleged injustice became known to you. This is because such complaints are often too difficult to investigate in a full and fair manner. Such a decision will, however, be made on a case-by-case basis.

Other authorities / organisations - If your feedback is not for Children’s Services, we will let you know who you should get in touch with and provide contact details, where possible. We will aim to do this within 2 working days. Your details will not be passed on by us unless we have your express permission.

Policy - Complaints about Council policy or decisions we have made in line with Council policy cannot be investigated under the complaints process unless evidence is provided that the policy / decisions have been arrived at incorrectly.

Professionals' concerns - Professionals' concerns will be handled in line with the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Partnership's escalation policy.

Schools - Complaints about schools (including free schools and academies) should, with few exceptions, be directed to the school themselves. Further information can be found at the following link : Complaints about schools

Superseding processes - Matters where there are superseding processes (for example, processes where there is recourse to appeals, Police investigations, disciplinary proceedings, Tribunals, or the Allegations Management process) will not typically be taken forward as formal complaints. Should you have outstanding concerns once any such processes have concluded, you can then request that the Council consider them.

Who can complain - Children’s Services can only consider complaints made by certain people. Details on who may complain can be found in Section 2.6 (‘Who may complain?) of ‘Getting the best from complaints’.