Issue - meetings

Report attached.

The Children & Young People’s Services Complaints Annual Report 2015/16 provided information about the numbers and types of complaints handled by the Children & Young People’s Service during the year, as well as Member’s correspondence. It was a requirement under the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 that the Annual Report be published.

There had been a slight increase in the number of complaints on 6% in 2015/16 (&$) compared to 70 in 2014/15, with Ombudsman enquiries in 2015/16 (5) compared to 3 in 2014/15. The majority of complaints were made by parents with just 14% (10) being made by children directly or via advocate. There had been a continuing trend with Stage 1 complaints                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              increasing; however Stage 2 complaints were reducing with the positive outcomes achieved through meeting with complainants.

The Committee had concerns at the increase of 25% in complaints regarding ‘attitude/behaviour of staff’ which were mainly in relation to decisions made, although there were also issues around ‘lack of communication’. The Director of Children’s Services acknowledged these concerns and advised the Committee that one of the key issues facing the service was the stability of staff, there had been an high turnover of staff during the year. Things were improving now there was a permanent leadership team in place and work was progressing on appointing a permanent middle management team. This would help with stability and help with the communication issues.

Many of the interactions between the service and clients were at times of greatest stress for the client and they did not always agree with the services decisions. The way to reduce these tensions was to improve communication.

The Director of Children’s Services also informed the Committee that because of the increase in the volume of clients the service had tended to rely on process to mitigate/manage risk.  Staff were being encouraged to work closer with families to reduce the level of risk.

The Committee highlighted concerns that the highest increase in complaints had been among children that were ‘Mixed White and Black British in 2016/17 (88%) with a reduction in those that came from ‘White British’ background. Officers explained that whilst these percentages seemed high it was only a small number of complaints. The Committee asked for a breakdown in figures rather than percentages.

The Committee looked specifically Looked After Children complaints of which there had been 33. The most common complaints were about communication with staff members (42%) and decisions made about their case (39%).

The Director of Children’s Services informed the Committee that the recent Ofsted inspection had confirmed the need to improve service and provide a higher level of service. Statutorily the Council were required to provide service to care leavers up to 21, and to 25 for those with Learning Difficulties. The Pathway would now provide a service to all care leavers up to 25 yrs of age. The team providing this service had been strengthened and now included trained social workers as well as specialists in drug and alcohol  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25

The Sub-Committee will receive the Complaints and Compliments Annual Report which deals specifically with enquiries within the Children and Young People Service.

The Sub-Committee considered the Children and Young People’s Services Annual Complaints Report 2015/16.  It was noted that there had been an increase in complaints of 6% in 2015/16 from 70 in 2014/15 to 74.  Ombudsman enquiries had increased in 2015/16 from 5 compared to 3 in 2014/15.  Of the total number of complaints received, 10 (14%) were made by children directly or via an advocate.

The Service were taking steps towards retention of staff through their “Face to Face” vision and an app for children to express their wishes/ views and concerns called MOMO (Mind of My Own) which will be monitored through 2016/17 in relation to concerns/ complaints raised by children.

Members agreed that MOMO was welcomed by the Children in Care Council as they had spoken highly of the app.  Other improvements needed included more links on the “landing pages” to Children in Care.  It was noted that developments of an app for care leavers was in its early stages.

Complaints were now more complex which impacted upon response times, this was being monitored closely.  It was noted that the increase in compliments could be attributed to a recent Family Interventions Survey which had included lots of compliments about the services received.

The Sub-Committee noted the report.