Agenda item

The report before Members considered the Children’s Services Annual Complaints Report 2017/18 which was appended to the report as appendix 1.

Highlights of the report included:

The number of Stage 1 complaints decreased slightly in 2017-18 by 2% from 92 in 2016-17 to 90 in 2017-18 with a drop in Ombudsman enquiries also from 6 in 2016-17 to 3 in 2017-18. Complaints made directly by young people increased from 15 in 2016-17 to 18 in 2017-18 and had increased steadily over the last three years.  However enquiries had risen from 43 in 2016-17 to 50 in 2017-18 and were not included in figures in the report. There was one escalation from Stage 1 to Stage 2 and no Stage 3 Reviews during 2017-18

Complaints received by the Intervention & Support Services had decreased by 19% from 69 in 2016-17 to 56 in 2017-18, however received the highest number of complaints across teams, with Triage/MASH & Assessment being the next highest. This was reflective of the type of complaints received from parents around the unwelcomed intervention by Social Workers and decisions made regarding their children.

Complaints received from young people related to the level of support, particularly when leaving care. The Cocoon had provided an informal venue for meetings with young people to discuss their concerns in a positive way resulting in five of the 18 complaints received being withdrawn.

Response times needed to be improved and the cause for the delay needed to be identified. Although it was notable that complaints were complex, involving very emotive situations, they needed to be investigated thoroughly.  This had resulted in a reduction of complaints being escalated, however efforts needed to be made to ensure they complied to the statutory timeframe.

Member enquiries had increased from 61 in 2016-17 to 63 in 2017-18 with 62% being responded to within timescale.

The number of compliments was low with 10 being received in 2017-18 from 16 in 2016-17, with Adoption receiving the highest number (3). Staff would need to be reminded to send compliments to the Complaints & Information Team to be logged.

Children’s Services havd strived forward with their vision for children and young people, with openness to learning and making improvements. This was reflected in the recent Ofsted inspection in which inspectors found improvements across all service areas.

Education complaints had reduced by 67% in 2017-18 from 18 in 2016-17 to 6 and enquiries relating to schools, academies or colleges had dropped by 30% from 60 in 2016-17 to 42 in 2017-18. There were no Ombudsman enquiries in 2017-18.

Those enquiries reported against service areas, related to complaints referred on to the relevant education provision, and Education & Schools received the highest number of these enquiries (26).

Education’s response times in 2017-18 were 100% showing an improvement from 72% in 2016-17.  Although member enquiry response times were slightly down in 2017-18 at 82% compared to 84% in 2016-17.

Compliments received were very low, and efforts would need to be made to encourage staff to send these for logging, with only four being recorded for 2017-18.

Members noted the contents of the attached reports and the continued efforts made by the service to learn from complaints and enable young people to engage with the complaints process.

Members noted the recommendations identified from complaints and continued monitoring of these to ensure that actions were implemented to evidence service improvements.

Members noted the positive feedback to services received through compliments, highlighting good practice.