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Contents

1. Legislative Background
2. Approach when Service User Expresses Dissatisfaction with the Service
3. Overview of Procedures under the Children Act
4. Stage 1- Complaints Received by the Customer Care & Complaints Unit
5. Stage 2
6. Stage 3 - Complaints Panel - Review of Investigation
7. The  Local  Government Ombudsman
8. Settlements/Remedies
9. Standards and Service Improvement
10. Complaints Involving other Agencies
11. Links to other Procedures
12. Roles and Responsibilities
13. Definitions
14. Compliments

1. Legislative Background

Bradford Children Social Care Services has a statutory responsibility to respond to Complaints as defined under The Children Act 1989, Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 and taking into consideration the Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000, and the Adoption and Children Act 2000. 

Every Child Matters: Change for Children sets out the Governments agenda for improving outcomes for every child. This guidance follows the core principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Every Child Matters: Change for Children which puts children’s views and wishes at the forefront of the decision-making process. Services must ensure that vulnerable children and young people get the help they need, when they need it, whenever they make a complaint however large or small. A person should not be hindered from accessing the Complaints Procedures because of their disability, race, age or gender.

This procedure refers to the Children Social Care Services Complaints Procedures, not Bradford Council Corporate Complaints Procedures or Foster Carers Complaints Procedure. (Foster Carers wishing to complain about terms of work should be referred to the Foster Carers Complaints Procedure).

2. Approach when Service User Expresses Dissatisfaction with the Service

If someone says they are unhappy with their service:

• Attempt to resolve their problem / dissatisfaction immediately;
• Avoid passing them on to someone else, if it is something that can be resolved with the staff members capability and knowledge;
• be sympathetic (you can agree they have a problem but not necessarily agree that the problem is our fault);
• Do not take sides;
• Do not criticise colleagues or the department;
• Repeat back to them what has been said by them;
• Say sorry that they are upset.

If the problem cannot be resolved:

• Say what happens next. Give them a Complaints leaflet and go through it with them. Help (if appropriate) service users to make a complaint (e.g. filling a complaint form –particularly when someone is not able to write);
• If the Complainant speaks another language that you don't; make every effort to get their name, address, telephone number and the language they speak. Pass this information to the Complaints Unit and they will make the necessary arrangements;
• In recording a complaint ask the complainant what is the outcome they are seeking. This may not always be possible to achieve but it helps to clarify the nature of the complaint. (See also acknowledgement);
• The complainant has the option of sending the complaint to the Customer Care & Complaints Unit or of addressing the complaint to the first line manager of the particular team or service.

3. Overview of Procedures under the Children Act

	Action	Timescale
STAGE 1	Problem solving Attempt to resolve the Complaint without a formal investigation. Undertaken by direct line manager; support available from children’s Customer Care & Complaints Unit	Acknowledgement within 2 days Full response(S1) within 10 working days
STAGE 2	Formal investigation Undertaken by an Investigating Officer without direct line management involvement and who has no other involvement with the Complaint and an Independent Person.	Full response within 25 working days from acceptance of complaint as having proceeded to Stage 2
STAGE 3	Complaints Panel Review If member of public remains dissatisfied with response to stage 2	Panel to be convened within 20 working days of receipt of request. Panel make recommendations to the director with 5 days of the panel Directors written response to complainant within 15 working days of the review.
		Once the Department has had reasonable opportunity to address the Complaint the member of the public may contact the Local Government Ombudsman. (I.e. the Complaint does not have had to progress through all stages, if it is considered there has been unreasonable delay).

Who can complain?

• Service users (past, current or potential) E.g.: children leaving care, potential adopters, parents of looked after children; etc.
• Someone acting on behalf of a Service User. E.g.: Advocates, friends; etc.
• Foster carers (when related to child’s welfare).

Representations: 

The Department is also committed to organisational learning through taking note of when members of the public compliment the Department on the service it has provided. The Customer Care & Complaints Unit receives these compliments, and provides reports to service areas on aspects of the service that have been praised or commended.

4. Stage 1 - Complaints Received by the Customer Care & Complaints Unit

Where a Complaint is received directly by the Customer Care & Complaints Unit will:

• Acknowledge the complaint in writing within 2 working days;
• Agree the statement of the full nature of the complaint with the Complainant;
• Clarify the complaint, if necessary arranging to meet the individual. Ensure adequate information is obtained regarding the complainant / the service user (if this is different) / the service that is involved / outline of the complaint;
• Clarify who is to look into the complaint (normally direct line manager), and inform them of the timescales within which the complainant should expect a response;
• Ensure the manager responding to the complainant provides a full response to the complainant within 10 working days;
• Give advice as necessary on looking into the complaint of information required for recording purposes and advise on the response to the complainant;
• Ensure the complaint is fully documented and correspondence filed.

Complaints Received at Front-line

A Stage 1 Complaint may be received directly by any member of staff. (See Approach when service user expresses dissatisfaction) The complaint has equal importance as one received directly by the Customer Care & Complaints Unit, and the Front Line Manager has responsibility to:

• Notify the Complaints Unit that they have received a complaint, (using e-form on Complaints intranet);
• Acknowledge the complaint in writing within 2 working days;
• Look into the complaint, seeking to resolve problems asking for procedural guidance from the Customer Care & Complaints Unit as necessary;
• Send a draft of the response letter to the Customer Care & Complaints Unit – and amend draft as necessary based on advice;
• Provide a final written response to the complainant within 10 working days setting out the findings of the stage 1 problem solving process;
• Notify the Customer Care & Complaints Unit of the outcome of complaint and of the time taken to provide responses;
• Notify the Customer Care & Complaints Unit of any ‘Learning Issues’ for the Service which have been identified as part of the complaint;
• Ensure the complaint is fully documented and correspondence filed.

Where the line manager is directly involved in the issues referred to in the complaint, the manager will need to seek advice from the Customer Care & Complaints Unit and identify another manager to consider and respond to the complainant.

Extension

Where a complete response cannot be provided within the timescale a further 10 days’ extension can be implemented. If necessary, the local authority may also suspend Stage 1 until an advocate has been appointed. The maximum amount of time that Stage 1 should take is 20 working days. After this deadline the complainant can request consideration at Stage 2 if he so wishes.

If the complainant remains unsatisfied s/he has the right to request a Stage 2 formal investigation within 20 days of receiving the Stage 1 response.

Summary Stage 1

Click here to view flowchart.

Additionally:

A complainant may Withdraw a complaint;

There may be some circumstances where a complaint may be suspended;

Where a complainant is complaining about a decision, It is often appropriate to freeze (delay) implementing that decision until the outcome of the complaint;

It should be noted that an anonymous letter or call cannot be registered as a complaint – however, there may still be grounds to investigate issues;

Only in certain circumstances, is it appropriate to decide not to investigate.

5. Stage 2

Stage 2 procedures will normally follow the conclusion of stage 1. A Complainant has the right to contact the Customer Care & Complaints Unit  to request a stage 2 investigation. The Customer Care & Complaints Unit may also consider it appropriate to instigate an independent investigation under stage 2 (bypassing stage 1) Where a stage 2 investigation is requested:

• The Customer Care & Complaints Unit  must ensure that that any options for resolution have been explored. The details of the Complaint and the complainant’s desired outcome must be recorded in writing and agreed with the complainant. This may be achieved either by correspondence or by meeting the complainant to discuss, followed by a written record of what was agreed.  S/he may wish to do this in conjunction with the Investigating Officer and Independent Person appointed to conduct Stage 2;
• The Customer Care & Complaints Unit  will liaise with the appropriate senior manager the appropriate senior manager to identify a manager to act as Investigating Officer;
• The Customer Care & Complaints Unit  will appoint an Independent Person;
• A meeting will be convened by the Complaints Manager with the  Independent Person and the Investigating Officer to pass relevant information and to clarify roles and responsibilities;
• The Customer Care & Complaints Unit will acknowledge the request informing the complainant of the people involved in the investigation, and the Adjudication officer who will consider the completed reports;
• The Customer Care & Complaints Unit will give advice throughout the investigation and give advice on the reports to be prepared for the Adjudication;
• Once the reports have been prepared The Customer Care & Complaints Unit  will send the reports to the  Adjudicating Officer. The Adjudicating Officer may wish to meet the Customer Care & Complaints Unit, IO and IP, to clarify any aspects of the reports;
• Ensure a response to the complainant is made within 25 working days of the request to proceed to Stage 2 by the Adjudication Officer. This response should establish whether the complaint was upheld, set out; 
• The response will also inform the complainant of their right to ask for their complaint to be considered by a Complaints Review Panel, providing they request this in orally or writing within 20 working days;
  • Where they remain dissatisfied with the response;
  • Where the investigation was not completed within timescales.

• Where it is not possible to complete the investigation within 25 working days, Stage 2 may be extended to a maximum of 65 working days. All extensions should be agreed by the Customer Care & Complaints Unit. The complainant should be informed of the reasons for the delay and a date for completion in writing;
• Where the complaint refers to a service commissioned by the Council (e.g. purchased foster care placement), there will be an expectation that the agency undertakes an investigation and provide written report, which complies to the standards of national regulations. The Independent Person will be appointed by the Council.

Summary of Stage 2

Complainant request Stage 2

Clarification of complaint

Acknowledgement within 2 days by the Customer Care & Complaints Unit

Allocation of IO and IP

Customer Care & Complaints Unit meets IO and IP

IO and IP meet complainant to agree terms of reference and ideal outcomes. Explore possibilities of resolution

Formal investigation

IO sends draft report to Customer Care & Complaints Unit and IP

IP sends report to Customer Care & Complaints Unit

Reports sent to Adjudication Officer

Adjudication meeting (if required) a plan of action completed

Customer Care & Complaints Unit sends response from Adjudication Officer, reports from IO and IP, action plan and information about stage 3 within 25 working days

6. Stage 3 - Complaints Panel - Review of Investigation

If the Complainant remains dissatisfied with the response of the department, and contacts the Customer Care & Complaints Unit within 20 working days of being notified of the outcome of the stage 2 investigation, and wishes the matter to be referred to a Panel for consideration stating his/her reasons for this request, the Customer Care & Complaints Unit will make arrangements for the Panel to be convened within 30 working days of the request.

The Panel will consist of three independent persons who do not work (or have not worked for the last 3 years) for Bradford Council. Good practice would dictate that consideration be given to panel members being of an appropriate gender and ethnic balance and also consideration of any special needs of the complainant.

When the Panel meets, it will consider

1. Oral or written statements from the complainant;
2. Oral or written statements from the Adjudication Officer and Investigating Officer;
3. Oral or written statements from the Independent Person involved in the stage 2 investigation;
4. Oral or written statements from any other person considered to have sufficient interest in the case.

The complainant is entitled to attend the meeting of the Panel, and may be accompanied by a support person or advocate, who can be nominated to speak on the complainants behalf.

Within 5 working days of the conclusion of the review, the members of the Panel must decide upon their recommendations.

The Customer Care & Complaints Unit will ensure that the complainant, Director of Children Services, the Adjudication Officer, Investigating Officer and Independent Person receive copies of the recommendations.

The Director must consider what action should be taken in relation to the Complaint in the light of the recommendations made by the panel, and should invite comment from all the attendees, including the Independent Person from Stage 2.

The Director will ensure that a written response to the complainant is made within 15 working days of receiving the Panels report.

The response should advise the complainant that they may refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman should they remain dissatisfied.

Summary Stage 3

Complainant request Stage 3

Request by complainant within 20 working days of receiving the Stage 2 response stating the reasons why s/he wants to proceed to Stage 2.

Review Panel organised within 30 working days

Panel sends report to Director of Children Services within 5 days

Director of Children Services sends response within 15 days

7. The Local Government Ombudsman

The Local Government Ombudsman is completely independent of Council procedures.

If the complainant remains dissatisfied with the decision, they may contact the Local Government Ombudsman who can decide whether  to investigate a Complaint where it is alleged that there has been ‘mal-administration’ which has caused’ personal injustice’. The Ombudsman will not normally investigate a complaint which has not first been considered under either the Departments or the Councils complaints procedures.

However the Ombudsman will consider the following exceptions amongst others:

• Complaints where there has been unreasonable delay by the council in processing a complaint;
• Complaints made by children and young people- up to the age of 21 or 25 if disabled;

Where the Ombudsman decides that it is appropriate for an investigation to take place, notice is given to the Chief Executive; and the complaint is then forwarded to the Liaison Officer in Legal Services who has responsibility for coordinating responses on behalf of the Council.

In cases where the complaint is against Social Services, the Director will nominate an appropriate person to work with the Liaison Officer in Legal Services to ensure that the necessary information is provided so that a response can be made to the Ombudsman within the allocated timescale of 15 working days.

At any stage the Ombudsman may discontinue involvement in the complaint at any stage. In the majority of cases a decision is reached once the Councils comments have been provided.  A letter explaining the Ombudsman’s reasons for not pursuing the complaint further is sent to the Complainant and the Council.

In a small number of cases, however, the Ombudsman may wish to interview any officers or members with involvement in the complaint, or require access to any relevant files or documentation. (The Ombudsman has the same right of access to information as the High Court).

When an investigation has taken place the Ombudsman may if considered appropriate prepare a draft report of key issues, which is circulated to the Council and Complainant and any involved third parties involved, and considering any comments, a formal report is then issued. (An announcement is made in the press and the report is made available for public inspection for a period of three weeks – although the Council is named, the real names of individuals are not used in the report. Where the Ombudsman has found mal-administration causing injustice, the Council must consider the report and advise the Ombudsman of the action it has taken or proposes to take.

Early referral:

A complaint could be referred directly to the Ombudsman after a Stage 2 when:

• There is very robust report;
• A complete adjudication has taken place;
• An outcome where all complaints have been upheld (or all significant complaints relating to service delivery in respect of the qualifying individual);
• The local authority is providing a clear action plan for delivery; and
• The local authority agrees to meet the majority or all of the desired outcomes presented by the complainant regarding social services functions.

Where this is the case, and the complainant agrees, the Complaints Manager can then approach the Local Government Ombudsman and ask him to consider the complaint directly, without first going through a Review Panel.

8. Settlements/Remedies

At any stage of a Complaint the Department may accept that a complaint was justified, the Complainant suffered injustice and that the complainant is entitled to a ‘remedy’. Section 92 of the Local Government Act 2000 confirms that councils are empowered to remedy ‘injustice arising from mal-administration’ without having to wait for the involvement of the Ombudsman.

The object of a settlement / remedy is to put the complainant back into the position he or she would have been in but for the fault. The Department must ensure consistency and fairness in dealing with cases, whilst recognising that each case needs to be considered on its own merits. The Department must be clear that the injustice was caused by the consequences of its ‘mal-administration’. The remedy must be appropriate and proportionate to the injustice and may include one or more of the following:

In some cases an apology is all that is required by way of a remedy.

In some cases an outcome of the complaint is to review specific practice, procedure or policy. (The complainant should normally be informed where this of the action taken place).

In some cases specific actions will be required as part or all of the remedy.

In other cases it will be appropriate for the Department to consider the payment of financial compensation either for direct loss and/or for distress caused. Decisions on offering a financial remedy need to taken at the level of DSM.

9. Standards and Service Improvement

Learning from Complaints - Ensuring Service Improvement

Compliance with the Complaints Procedure allows the service to consider and then make improvements to service delivery. In this way the Department seeks to avoid wherever possible similar problems/ service deficiencies occurring in the future.

Managers investigating any Complaint must consider whether there are learning issues arising from the investigation. At the conclusion of a complaint at Stage 1 the investigating manager will complete a Learning from Complaints ‘Feedback Form’, and return to the Customer Care & Complaints Unit.

Recommendations are to be recorded by the Customer Care & Complaints Unit who will ensure they are reported to the relevant DSMs. Significant (or cross- cutting  issues) will  be reported to the Head of Service. Each Head of Service will confirm their intention to address the issue, and allocate a lead officer responsible for implementation.

Improvements to service as a result of upheld complaints will be reported as part of the annual report on complaints.

Monitoring Standards

The ability of the Department to address complaints within the timescales specified within the procedures will be monitored on a monthly basis and a quarterly report prepared for the Group Service Managers.

Annual Report

An annual report of the Departments ability to respond to complaints will be prepared which will be available to Elected Members, staff and general public.

10. Complaints Involving other Agencies

Complaints Received about a Service Provided by another Agency

Where the Department has received a Complaint in relation to another agency which is providing a service on behalf of the Department the Customer Care & Complaints Unit has a responsibility to notify the agency and pass on the complaint. In these circumstances the Department will seek confirmation that the complaint was fully investigated by the other agency.

Complaints Received by other Departments

Where another department receives a complaint referring to Children Social Care Services this should be forwarded by them to the Customer Care & Complaints Unit as promptly as possible. All response times to the complainant are based on the first date on which the council received the complaint.

Complaints Received from another Agency

When a complaint is received from another organisation (e.g. school) the Customer Care & Complaints Unit will refer it to the Manager of the appropriate team to deal with outside this procedure.

Complaints Received which Refer to more than one Department / Agency

Where a complaint received refers to more than one department of the Council the Customer Care & Complaints Unit will ensure that there is a named officer responsible for coordinating the response to the Complainant.

11. Links to other Procedures

Member Enquiries

Where a MP or local councillor contacts the department to enquire about an issue, this normally is dealt with outside of the complaints procedures. However, where the most appropriate course of action is to refer the issue to the Customer Care & Complaints Unit, the member will be informed that this is the course of action to be taken.

Employee Complaints

The complaints procedure does not address employee complaints. Employees have recourse through the employee grievance procedures.

Internal Complaints

The Social Services Complaints Procedure is not the appropriate procedure to deal with disputes between departments.

Management Investigations

When a Complaint raises a management concern that leads to a management investigation, the Complainant must be informed that the complaint is being addressed through a management investigation. The Customer Care & Complaints Unit will respond to the complainant, and advise on the information that will be disclosed to them.

Police Investigation

Where the complaint leads to police involvement, the Customer Care & Complaints Unit will consider whether it would be appropriate to suspend the complaint process, for example where the complaint investigation may impede or hinder police action, and will keep the complainant informed.

Child Protection

Where consideration of a complaint leads to concerns about the welfare of children, these should be referred immediately to the Child Protection Unit or the Police. The handling of any associated complaint can be suspended if necessary.

Unreasonably Persistent Complainants

If the Complainant is persisting because his complaints have not been considered in full then the local authority must address this (normally by invoking the next stage). However, if the authority has already done so and has demonstrated this to the complainant, then the Complaints Manager should consider whether the complainant is now inappropriately persistent. The following guidance should only be pursued where absolutely necessary.

Persistent complainant
Unreasonably Persistent complainant

Action in Response

Where the relationship becomes unworkable, the Complaints Manager should ensure that s/he demonstrates that s/he has considered the Complaints as fully as is appropriate.  This should normally be through advising the complaint that:

• He does not constitute a person who may complain and/or that his complaints do not fall within the relevant criteria for what may be complained about;
• The local authority has either offered or provided consideration of the issues through another procedure (e.g. the corporate complaints procedure);
• The local authority will consider the substantive issues at all stages of the complaints procedure; or
• The matters raised are not sufficiently different to justify being considered as a new complaint.

Where the local authority has attempted to move the complaint on to the next stage but the complainant has either refused or delayed such progression through excessive objection to the process rather than addressing the substantive issues of the complaint themselves, the local authority should advise the complainant that this is causing delay and is unreasonable use of the complaints procedure.

In some instances, abusive, threatening or other unreasonable behaviour may be a feature of the complainants disease or mental illness (e.g. chronic anxiety). In such cases, if possible, the local authority should consider securing a whole case review from all professionals involved. The local authority should refer to the Mental Capacity Act.

In all cases where the Complaints Manager decides to treat someone as an unreasonably persistent complainant, s/he should write to tell the complainant why s/he believes his behaviour falls into that category, what action s/he is taking and the duration of that action. S/He should also inform the complainant how he can challenge the decision if he disagrees with it (this should normally include information regarding the Local Government Ombudsman).

Where a complainants complaint is closed and he persists in communicating about it, the Complaints Manager may decide to terminate contact with that Complainant.

Restricted access.

12. Roles and Responsibilities

Customer Care & Complaints Unit (responsibility at S1)

The Customer Care & Complaints Unit is responsible for:

• Coordination of the complaints procedure;
• Ensuring advocacy services are explained, offered and provided when required for children and young people;
• Agreeing the statement of a Complaint;
• Ensuring everyone involved in responding to a complaint is familiar with the procedure;
• Identifying any special issues/ needs that would need to be accommodated to address and respond fully to the complaint;
• Liaising with senior managers on aspects of the complaint – including designating managers to respond to complaints on behalf of Social Services;
• Liaising with other agencies or departments as necessary – e.g. solicitors, Legal Department, Corporate Complaints Unit.

Customer Care & Complaints Unit (responsibility at stage 2)

• In liaison with senior managers, helping to identify and appointing investigating officers, as necessary;
• Identifying and appointing Independent Persons as necessary to meet the requirements of the procedures.

Customer Care & Complaints Unit (responsibilities- general)

• Providing written and oral advice to members of the public;
• Providing advice on good practice to Social Services staff;
• Ensuring that procedures are undertaken within the time frames specified;
• Ensuring adequate records are maintained;
• Ensuring standards of responding to complaints are maintained;
• Monitoring and reporting on performance and issues for service improvement;
• Compiling the annual report and such other reports as required;
• Providing training to managers involved in dealing with complaints.

Stage 2 Adjudication Officer

The Adjudicating Officer will consider the complaints, the findings, conclusions, and recommendations, any report from the IP and the Complainants desired outcomes.

This will normally be the Head of Service.

Investigating Officer (Stage 2)

The Investigating Officer will take the lead in conducting the investigation:

• Providing a comprehensive, open, transparent and fair consideration of the complaint through:
  • Sensitive and thorough interviewing of the complainant clarifying the complaint with the complainant, and the desired outcomes;
  • Consideration of social work records and other relevant information;
  • Establishing the facts of the case, and examining relevant procedures, policy and legislation;
  • Interviewing with staff and other people relevant to the complaint; a analysing information.

• Preparation of the report of the investigation in a clear, plain language;
• Effectively liaising with the complainant or his advocate, the Independent Person and the Complaints Manager as appropriate;
• Having the child/ young person/ adult’s best interests at the centre of the investigation;
• Looking for points of resolution throughout the investigation and, taking appropriate action;
• Providing a written report to the Adjudication Officer with recommendations for action, suggestions for resolution and areas of good practice – within statutory timescales;
• Negotiating timescales with the complainant (bearing in mind statutory timescales), and keeping the Complainant informed throughout the investigation;
• Provide a verbal feedback to the complainant at the conclusion of the investigation.

Independent Person (stage 2)

An Independent Person is someone from outside of the department, with sufficient understanding and knowledge of Social Services and of the Complaints Procedures to make a full and independent deliberation of the complaint. The role of the Independent Person is to introduce an objective view to the investigation. The Independent Person is required to:

• Have the clients best interests/welfare at the centre of the investigation;
• Work cooperatively with the Investigating Officer;
• ensure that the process of investigation is open, transparent and fair;
• Be able to comment on the speed, thoroughness and fairness of the investigation;
• Find out all the facts by being actively involved in all meetings, discussions and interviews, together with the Investigating Officer. Undertake additional interviews as necessary and have access to all relevant documentation to obtain an independent view;
• Provide an objective written report based upon the evidence with recommendations for action and resolution and also suggest improvements to methods of working;
• Provide verbal feedback to the complainant along with the Investigating Officer, based upon their report.

13. Definitions

Representations

The Department is committed to organisational learning through taking note of when children, young people, their family, their carers and members of the public compliment the service. The Complaints Manager receives these compliments, and provides reports to service areas on aspects of the service that have been praised or commended.

Acknowledgement:

An acknowledgement must be made to the complainant in writing within 2 working days. It should:

• Confirm the full nature of the Complaint;
• Confirm the desired outcome – as expressed by the complainant;
• Who will be investigating and responding to the complaint;
• Timescales within which the complainant should expect a response;
• Contact details of the Customer Care & Complaints Unit.

A face to face may be required with the complainant to ensure that all these elements are covered.

When it is not possible to cover all elements within two days, a basic acknowledgement must be sent – and other details communicated in writing as soon as possible.

Withdrawal of a Complaint

An individual can withdraw a Complaint at any time. The manager investigating the complaint will notify the Customer Care & Complaints Unit of the complainants intention. The Customer Care & Complaints Unit will acknowledge the withdrawal by letter.

Suspension of a Complaint

There are a number of circumstances where the Complaint may be suspended (e.g. at the individuals request, where at risk of prejudicing Court or Police Proceedings or management investigations), in all cases the Complainant must be notified of a decision to suspend, and it should be made clear in what circumstances the complaint will continue to be addressed.

Frozen Decision

If the complaint is about a proposed change to a care plan, a placement or a service, the decision may need to be deferred (frozen) until the Complaint is considered. Care should be taken if deferring a decision is likely to have a significant effect upon the mental or physical wellbeing of an individual.

The decision to defer should normally be made through detailed discussion and risk assessment between the Complaints Manager and the manager responsible for the service, within the context of the work being undertaken with the child or young person. Decisions need to be made on a case-by-case basis, but there should generally be a presumption in favour of freezing, unless there is a good reason against it (for example, if leaving a child or young person where they are would put them at risk). In cases where decisions are met with opposing views, advice should be sought from the appropriate Director in the local authority.

Decision not to Investigate 

There is a presumption in favour of accepting Complaints. However, where a complaint is made more than one year after the grounds to make the complaint arose and the complainant was capable to make the complaint earlier, or where there is now not sufficient access to information or individuals involved at the time to carry out a fair investigation, the Council may decline to investigate, but will provide the complainant with the reasons not to proceed.

Formal Complaint / Stage 2 Complaint

A stage two Complaint is investigated by a manager within the service without direct involvement with the complaint and without direct line management responsibility for the service being investigated. The investigation is undertaken with an independent person. Both investigators provide the Head of Service with a report; on the basis of these reports the Head of Service provides a response to the complainant.

Adjudication Meeting:

An adjudication meeting is held towards the end of a stage 2 Complaint. The meeting will consider the complaints, the findings, conclusions, and recommendations, any report from the IP and the complainants desired outcomes. The purpose of the adjudication meeting is to consider the reports and identify: its response; its decision on each point of complaint; and any action to be taken (with timescales for implementation). This will be recorded in an Action plan that will be sent to the complainant and all the relevant managers.

Annual Report

An annual report is to be prepared by the Customer Care & Complaints Manager, covering:

• Representations made;
• The number of Complaints at each stage and any that were considered by the Local Government Ombudsman;
• Who made complaints;
• The types of complaints made;
• The outcome of complaints;
• Details about advocacy services provided under these arrangements;
• Compliance with timescales, and complaints resolved within extended timescale as agreed;
• Learning and service improvement, including changes to services that have been implemented and details of any that have not been implemented;
• A summary of statistical data about the age, gender, disability, sexual orientation and ethnicity of complainants;
• A review of the effectiveness of the complaints procedure.

Persistent Complainants

• A person who makes the same Complaint repeatedly (with minor differences), but never accepts the outcomes;
• A person who seeks an unrealistic outcome and persists until it is reached; or
• A person with a history of making other unreasonably persistent complaints.

Unreasonably Persistent Complaints

An unreasonably persistent Complaint is likely to include some or all of the following:

• An historic and irreversible decision or incident;
• Frequent, lengthy, complicated and stressful contact with the local authority staff;
• The complainant behaving in an aggressive manner to staff or being verbally abusive or threatening;
• The complainant changing aspects of the complaint partway through the investigation or Review Panel;
• The complainant making and breaking contact with the local authority on an ongoing basis; and
• The complainant persistently approaching the local authority through different routes about the same issue in the hope of getting different responses.

The complainant should receive the same standard of response as any other service user, and the authority can show that it has not discriminated against the persistent complainant.

If the situation is challenging but it is possible to proceed, staff should avoid giving unrealistic expectations on the outcome of the complaint.

Restricting Access

The decision to restrict access to the complaints procedure should be taken by the Complaints Manager and should follow a prior warning to the complainant. Any restrictions imposed should be appropriate and proportionate. The options that the Complaints Manager is most likely to consider are:

• Requesting contact in a particular form (for example, letters only);
• Requiring contact to take place with a named officer;
• Restricting telephone calls to specified days and times;
• Asking the complainant to enter into an agreement about his future contact with the local authority; and
• Informing the complainant that if he still does not cooperate with the advice given, any further correspondence that does not present significant new matters or new information will not necessarily be acknowledged, but will be kept on file.

Any new Complaints from people who come under this policy should be treated on their individual merits.

In extreme cases, the local authority may consider the following actions:

• Referring the complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman before the complaints procedure has been exhausted (see Annex 3); or
• Advising the complainant that it cannot assist further and informing them of their right to approach the Local Government Ombudsman.

The distinction between the two options above is that early referral to the Local Government Ombudsman is a positive action that can only be undertaken in agreement between the local authority and the complainant. This is therefore the less likely option with persistent complainants.

Option 2 may arise where the local authority does not agree with the complainant that the complaints are substantively valid and the two parties disagree on the way forward. This is more likely with a persistent complainant. Should the local authority take this option, it should not contact the Local Government Ombudsman directly, but should indicate to the complainant that he may make this approach. The local authority should confirm to the complainant that it is not responding to the complaint further.

The Local Government Ombudsman is likely to apply the test of reasonableness over the local authorities response in a similar manner to an early referral and will have a range of options open to him.

14. Compliments

How to Send Compliments:

The preferred option to receive compliments is through the e-form in Bradnet, however any other way (letter, e-mail etc) will be also accepted as long as it contains the following information:

• Name of the Team;
• Name of the person (service user or staff) sending the compliment;
• Date;
• Relation with service user;
• Name of the service user if different;
• Content of compliment.

Compliments need to be sent as soon as received. If they are sent after the cutting point (end of each quarter) it will not be reflected in the quarterly reports (although it will appear in the Annual Report).

What is a Compliment?

• General thank you cards (e-mails or letters) are not compliments unless specific are mentioned.
  
  E.g.: "Thank you for all your support you gave me as my social worker" is not a compliment but an acknowledgement to the staff for doing their job.
  
  "Thank you for you support when I had problems with my finances. You were really there for me and sorted an appointment with the benefits Agency. I appreciate the phone calls you made, even after work!..."
  This is a compliment;
• Feedback Forms: in order to be considered compliments they need:
  • To include all the necessary information (see section 1);
  • Scores of 9 or 10;
  • Specific comments that can be logged, not just scores.

What Happens with Compliments?

• Until now: they were logged in the Respond system and the figures were included in quarterly reports to the different areas and in the Complaints Annual report;
• From now on:
  • We will be able to log the compliments under the following categories:
    • Communication;
    • Staff attitude;
    • Excellence of service;
    • Staff beyond their remit;
    • Impact on service user.
  • As well as numbers we'll be able to report under the above categories, so we can inform management and service improvement of the things that we do well;
  • We will include compliments from Localities and Learning as well as Social Care;
  • Potential link with the Thank you awards.

End