Customer Service Annual Report 2020/21

Executive summary

This report provides an overview of the activity of the Complaints Service in the year during the period of 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.

Note that for the time period this report covers, Slough Children First was known as Slough Children’s Services Trust.

All complaints

• Total number of complaints – 155 (147 in 2019/20)
• Statutory complaints – 23 (28 in 2019/20)
• Corporate complaints 15 (19 in 2019/20)
• Representations – 31 (36 in 2019/20)
• Complaints made but not put through – 48 (27 in 2019/20)
• Complaints declined – 38 (34 in 2019/20)
• Increase in complaints year on year (119 in 2017/18, 155 in 1920/21)

Statutory complaints

• 23 statutory complaints
• 18 (78%) responded to within timescales (82% in 2019/20)
• Six complaints made by child same as 2019/20; three were supported by an advocate
• 14 complaints made regarding behaviour and attitude of worker; eight regarding quality of service; one regarding case management decisions.
• Two (9%) were upheld the same as the previous year
• Seven (30%) were partially upheld, fewer than in 2019/20 (12)
• Five (22%) were not upheld, fewer than in 2019/20 (10)
• Five complainants progressed to Stage Two (three fewer than 2019/20)
• Six complainants escalated to the LGSCO, three of these still in enquiry stage.

Representations

• Representations aimed at resolving issues before they escalate into statutory complaints
• 31 representations (36 in 2019/20)
• No set timescale as important to resolve the issues, however 24 /31 (77.5%) were responded to within the 10 day timescale set for statutory responses
• 24 were about the behaviour and attitude of staff
• Seven were about quality of services provided.
• Seven were upheld, one partially upheld and 17 not upheld, the rest were withdrawn or declined suspended or pending

Compliments

• 23 compliments were recorded, lower than the previous year
• 20 were in relation to social work practice, three were related to case management
• Compliments made by a range of people parents, adopters, family members, young person, other agencies (examples of compliments in the report)
• One exceptional compliment from TVP in relation to piece of work competed by the Child Exploitation Coordinator
• Compliments are under reported

Key headlines

Whilst an increase in complaints may indicate an increased dissatisfaction from service users, it may also indicate that the complaints process is more accessible.

One of the possible factors that should be considered for the increase in complaints is the result of frustration felt by families and individuals due to the lockdown measures imposed during the pandemic and its effects on their life; most notably it is interesting that the data reflects the national statistics of the increase in cases of domestic violence.

The Trust saw a significant increase in complaints from ‘angry fathers’ challenging the support and help provided by the Trust to their partners and children fleeing domestic violence. These individuals tended to be very articulate and exercised their rights to progress their complaints to each stage.

The policy to record complaints that do not meet the threshold for either a statutory or corporate complaint but are categorised as ‘complaints not put through’ continues to increase. It is important to capture this data to record the significant level of time and consultation provided by the Complaints Manager to understand the issues being raised and signposting the complainant to the most appropriate place to resolve their issues.

Six young people have been able to access the statutory complaints procedure and seek resolutions to their concerns, this is the same as last year; of these 3 young people were supported by an advocate this is one more than last year.

The number of complaints that have been addressed as representations has also gone down from 36 last year to 31 this year, we believe this may be in part due to the pandemic where complainants feel the need to seek more formal redress to their of frustration and anger.

The complaints process has been updated through the year with improvements made based on feedback from professionals and from the LGSCO (Local Government Social Care Ombudsman), this includes amending the letter template to include ensuring managers who investigate complaints seek contact with the complainant with more face to face discussions/ telephone meetings taking place.

The complaints training has been developed into an E-learning course, this should be rolled out in June 2021 with the installation of the new IT systems.

A proportion of complaints have been focused on the attitude and behaviour of staff, reflecting the need to continuously be aware of the way in which we speak to service users being respectful and systemic. It is acknowledged that social workers must have difficult conversations with service users and these conversations may cause some service users to be unhappy.

There has been some turn over of managers within the Trust which has resulted in some inconsistencies in adhering to the process and timescales, this has also impacted on the capacity to take time to reflect and learn from complaints as robustly as the Trust would aspire to.

Introduction

This report provides information about complaints made during the period 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021.

The statutory responsibility under the Children Act 1989 Representation Procedure (England) Regulations 2006; requires children’s services to have complaints procedures in place in order to regulate the procedure which needs to be followed in consideration of representations made under the Children Act 1989 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002.

It is a statutory requirement to produce and publish an annual report.

The Complaints Manager has responsibility for managing the statutory process for complaints from children and young people (or their representative) and a responsibility in ensuring the quality of that service.

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview and analysis of all complaints, concerns and compliments received by the trust in the past year, and summarise the issues that have arisen, providing a mechanism by which the Trust can monitor the quality and effectiveness of services and of its complaints procedure.

The report will be presented and approved by Slough Children First Board, and, under the contractual arrangements, to Slough Borough Council (Council).

A summary of the complaints procedure is attached to this report as Annex One.

Progress made in 2020/21

• The Complaints Manager continues to work with complainants and with professionals to address complaints at an informal mediatory level rather than progressing to a formal Stage One. This has resulted in many complainants providing positive verbal feedback that they felt they had been given a chance to talk and be listened to by a senior manager.
• The Complaints Manager continues to be directly available to complainants which has enabled them to clarify the issues they were concerned about, taking the opportunity of talking with an informed and neutral party.
• The complaints policy continues to be reviewed and updated and is published on the website.
• The Complaints Manager has incorporated written procedures for social worker managers and Heads of Services investigating complaints of what the Trust expects of how they should investigate. This has been developed over time through listening to feedback from managers and quality assuring the complaints responses.
• The mandatory training programme has been developed to an online E-Learning course to be rolled out in June 2021 so that it can be delivered throughout the year to relevant staff across the Trust, in particular targeting those who are front line, operational staff and managers.
• The Trust continues to focus on improving the recording of data to inform better analysis and information available. The new category of ‘not put through’ that was introduced last year has better reflected the amount of the complaints / issues that are received and managed within the Trust.
• The template letter to respond to Stage One complaints’ has been further updated so that the investigating officer has to state date and time they met/ had telephone meeting with the complainant to discuss and further explore the complaint and provide a platform to the complainant to air their concerns in person.
• Short monthly reports have been provided to Heads of Service regarding complaints / compliments in their areas of responsibility, enabling improved management oversight and focus where there may be performance or service issues that need to be addressed. Equally this highlights where a compliment has been received highlighting good practice.

Access to the statutory complaints procedure

The aim is that the complaints procedures are accessible and simple to use, when children, young people and ‘significant others’ feel dissatisfied with the service provided by the Trust. The Complaints Manager is responsible for ensuring that the Trust complies with the statutory complaint procedures, and provides an easily accessible service for those service users who wish to make a complaint. These strategies include:

• The Complaints Manager is available to the public Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and offers a number of ways for people to contact them for advice, opportunity to discuss a concern or problem, or to make a complaint. These include face to face meetings, telephone calls, email correspondence, letters.
• The complaints leaflet is available to all social workers to give to young people and other service users. A requirement of The Practice Standard of Statutory Social Work and Early Help is that service users are informed of their right to make a complaint and how to contact the Complaints Manager. The website has full details of how to make a complaint or compliment, including the complaints leaflet and the intranet provides staff in the Trust with easy access to the procedure.
• The Complaints Manager is available to work with the Children in Care Council (Reach Out! group) to develop child-centred information sheets/ brochures for children to enable them to make a complaint.
• All Child Protection Conference Chairs explain to families and Child Protection Conference participants of their right to make complaints and advice them of the contact details of the Complaints Manager and how to lodge a complaint.
• All Independent Reviewing Officers are required to advise all of the children who are looked after by the Trust of their right to make a complaint and how to go about it.

Overview of statutory complaints

The Complaints Manager routinely collects a range of data on the complaint activity, and it is from this data that the following analyses have been completed.

When a complaint is made the Complaints Manager holds a discussion with the complainant to ascertain the nature of the complaint in order to consider the most appropriate procedure to follow in response to the complaint.

Once a decision is made regarding the nature of the complaint and the appropriate procedure to investigate the complaint the Complaints Manager liaises with the appropriate staff in the Trust to carry out the investigation

The table below shows the complaint activity during the year 2020/21 and the procedure followed to investigate and respond to the complaint.

Complaints that have been resolved at a mediatory level are recorded as a representation on the Trust’s records.

Total number of complaints and representations 2020/21

	2020/21	2019/20	2018/19	2017/18
Statutory complaints	23 (14.8%)	28 (19%)	26 (24.1%)	44
Representations (mediatory)	31 (20%)	36 (24.5%)	35 (32.4%)	46
Corporate complaints	15 (9.6%)	19 (12.9%)	1 (0.9%)	2
Miscellaneous	0	3 (2%)	6 (5.6%)	7
Not put through	48 (30.9%)	27 (18.4%)	3 (2.8%)	0
Declined	38 (24.5%)	34 (23.1%)	37 (34.3%)	20
Total	155	147	108	119

The above table shows that a total of 155 complaints were received in 2020/21, this is an increase from last year; again the increase is mostly due to the Trust now recording complaints/contacts not put through and an decrease in corporate complaints which covers areas of activity that do not fall within the Statutory process.

Complaints that are classed as not put through do not progress to a formal or informal process however they still require a significant level of time and consultation provided by the Complaints Manager to understand the issues being raised and often signposting the complainant to the most appropriate place to resolve their issues. It is therefore important to record this activity.

The complaints that were declined was because they did not meet the criteria for accepting a complaint, i.e. the case was in Court proceedings, or the case was under police investigation; the person making the complaint did not have parental responsibility or the complaint was for Slough Borough Council, or that the complaint has already been investigated and resolved.

Case example

Complaint was regarding housing, advised the complainant that this is for the Slough’s housing department and directed them to SBC’s complaints department.

Timelines of responses to complaints

The Trust aims to respond and resolve a Stage One complaint within ten working days of the acknowledgement of the receipt of the complaint.

In 2020/21 out of the 23 statutory complaints:

• 18 (78%) were resolved within time scales, (82% in 2019/20)
• Five (21%) were outside timescales (10% in 2019/20)

The timeliness of complaints responses within ten working days has decreased in the last year. The reasons for complaints responded to outside of timescales are varied; the majority were due to complainants delaying in responding to the investigating officers, or failing to attend meetings arranged to discuss the complaint, three complaints were withdrawn by the complainant and two were abandoned as the complaints failed to respond and engage any further with complaint.

The Complaints Manager continues to liaise with managers responsible for investigating complaints and complainants when the timescales are unlikely to be met.

Trust Corporate Complaints

In 2020/21 fifteen complaints were identified as Trust corporate complaints, this is a decrease from last year representing 9.6% of all complaints this year as opposed to 13% last year. The Trust continues to apply the criteria of what constitutes a statutory complaint more robustly.

The main criteria being applied to the complaint is to determine if there is a lack of provision of care for the child/ren, if so it will be managed as a statutory complaint, if there isn’t then it will be managed as a corporate complaint. Legislation and statutory guidance is used to inform all decisions.

Who is making the complaints?

The Statutory Complaints Procedures are only accessible to those who qualify in regards to specific criterion, and below is a breakdown of the role of the complainant.

Role of complainant	2020/21	2020/21 (%)	2019/20	2019/20 (%)
Children/young care leaver	6	26.1%	6	21.4%
Parent	0	0	1	3.6%
Mother	10	43.5%	16	57.1%
Father	7	30.4%	3	10.7%
Foster carers	0	0	0	0
Other (grandparents; advocate; SGO; carer; adopters; sibling)	0	0	2	7.1%
Total	23	100%	28	100%

The largest group of individuals lodging a Stage One complaint remains the mother of a child/ children receiving a service from the Trust. Overall mothers lodged a total of 10 of the 23 complaints, and fathers lodging a total of seven of the 23 complaints.

Young people, all of whom were being supported by the Leaving Care Service, lodged six complaints of the 23 statutory complaints, three of which were with the support of an advocate.

Method of lodging a complaint

To enable service users to make a complaint, the decision on how to make that complaint is entirely up to them. The table below provides information about the method of lodging a complaint.

Method of lodging a complaint	2020/21	2019/20	2018/19	2017/18
Email	19	21	13	28
In person	0	2	5	3
Telephone	4	5	5	7
Letter	0	0	2	5
Other (e.g. MP)	0	0	1	1
Total	23	28	26	44

Data shows that the preferred method of contact is via email; many more potential complainants did contact the Complaints Manager to seek guidance and advice on how to lodge a complaint.

Potential complainants also accessed the Complaints Manager to discuss their concerns and on many occasions a mediated resolution was negotiated with the service user and the relevant manager.

Reasons for making a complaint

There are many reasons people who are involved with children’s social care will complain, but for the purposes of collecting data the Trust has put them into four categories.

• Category One: Behaviour/ attitude of social worker or staff member
• Category Two: Case management decision/ disagreement with decision
• Category Three: Quality of services provided by the Trust
• Category Four: Lack of / failure to provide services.

Reason for making complaints	2020/21	2020/21 (%)	2019/20	2019/20 (%)
Behaviour or attitude of social worker or staff member	14	60.9%	14	50%
Case management decision/disagreement with decision	1	4.3%	2	7.1%
Quality of services provided by the Trust	8	34.8%	12	42.9%
Lack of/failure to provide service	0	0	0	0
Not recorded	0	0	0	0
Total	23	100%	28	100%

The category receiving the most complaints in 2020/21 was ‘behaviour or attitude of social worker or staff member.’ This is the same number as the previous year, but is a higher percentage of the overall reason for complaints, of these five were partially upheld, three were not upheld and two were not upheld, two were withdrawn, and two were abandoned. The fact that five were partially upheld suggests that there remains ongoing work to ensure that staff are adhering to the Trust Behaviours and Values.

Once again complaints ‘relating to quality of service’ reduced in 2020/21, of these two were partially upheld; one was not upheld, one was withdrawn, one contacted the Chief Executive directly who responded by not upholding the complaint, three were accepted directly at Stage Two.

Complaints have enabled managers to focus on areas for improvement within their services and staff behaviour is addressed through individual supervision, staff training and embedded within the Trust Behaviours and Values Policy.

Outcomes of statutory complaints

There are three outcomes to a complaint:

Upheld – this means the Trust accepts it is at fault; the Trust will apologise, and also explain what it will do to rectify the error and reduce the risk of the error re-occurring in future.

Partially upheld – this means the Trust partially accepts that it is at fault and will apologise, and also explain what it will do to rectify the error and stop the error from occurring in future.

Not upheld – this means the Trust does not accept that it is at fault.

Year	Upheld	Partially upheld	Not upheld	Withdrawn	Abandoned/ suspended	N/A	No outcome recorded (still in progression)	Total
2020/21	2 (8.7%)	7 (30.4%)	5 (21.7%)	3 (13%)	2 (8.7%)	4 (17.4%)	0	23
2019/20	2 (7.1%)	12 (42.9%)	10 (35.7%)	1 (3.6%)	2 (7.1%)	0	1 (3.6%)	28
2018/19	1 (3.8%)	13 (50%)	9 (34.6%)	1 (3.8%)	2 (7.7%)	0	0	26
2017/18	4 (9.1%)	22 (50%)	13 (29.5%)	2 (4.5%)	1 (2.3%)	0	2 (4.5%)	44
2016/17	4 (6.3%)	26 (41.3%)	27 (42.9%)	0	0	2 (3.2%)	4 (6.3%)	63

In 2020/21 out of the 23 statutory complaints, two complaints were upheld, seven complaints were partially upheld, five complaints were not upheld, three complaints were withdrawn, two complaints were abandoned and of the four that were not applicable, three were accepted at Stage Two and are still ongoing, one was responded to by the previous Chief Executive.

Three complaints were withdrawn by the complainant and two were abandoned because the complainants failed to confirm the statement of complaint or did not respond to further contact.

The outcome of complaints remains broadly similar to those in the previous year with a slight increase in those upheld.

Managers are responding to complaints in a more open and reflective way and are now being required to discuss the complaints with the complainants in their investigations, and due to the significant focus on early resolution the complaints which do progress to Stage One are more likely to be upheld or partially upheld.

Escalating statutory complaints

In 2020/21 five complainants requested to progress their Stage One complaints to Stage Two, this is a decrease from 2019/20 when eight requested to do so.

Stage Two requires both an Independent Investigator and an Independent Person to ensure that a complaint is investigated with independence and impartiality and in line with the statutory requirements.

All five requests to progress to Stage Two were accepted:

• Two Stage Two investigations were completed and the Adjudication Officer accepted the Independent Investigators report.
• At the time of writing the report three Stage Two investigations are still in progress.

Of the three cases still in progress, one was closed after three months when the complainant failed to engage with the investigators to sign off the statement of complaint, despite numerous follow ups. However the complainant contacted the LGSCO who advised that it should be reopened, the Trust agreed to reopen the investigation.

No statutory complaints were escalated to Stage three; one corporate complaint was escalated to Stage Three

In 2020/21 six complainants escalated their complaints to the Local Government Officer and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) this is the same as last year.

Of these six complaints, one was a statutory Stage Two complaint and this was deemed as premature by the LGSCO as the Stage Two had not yet been completed by the Trust; two complaints that had been declined by the Trust were progressed to the LGSCO, and their decision was that the complaints were outside their jurisdiction and no further action would be taken by them.

Three complaints that had been declined by the Trust are still in the initial preliminary enquiry stage with the LGSCO and we await their request for further information/ decision.

Our experience with the Ombudsman has taught us the importance of making sure that we are able to respond comprehensively to the questions they raise providing adequate information for them to make a timely decision about whether they are going to accept and investigate a complaint.

It also highlights the importance of keeping clear up to date case notes as these are often required by the LGSCO to inform their decision.

LGSCO decision	2020/21
Maladministration (no injustice)
Maladministration and injustice
No maladministration after investigation
Ombudsman discretion
Investigation with local settlement
Outside jurisdiction	2
Investigation discontinued
Premature/informal enquiries	1
Closed after initial enquiries – no further action
Case still in preliminary inquiry stage	3
Total	6

Representation

Who is making the representations?

The Trust has defined ‘representation’ for its purposes where the complainant has agreed to resolve their concerns at a mediatory level; the Trust has only accepted complaints/representations from those who meet the criteria according to the statutory complaints procedure.

The Trust addressed 31 representations during the year, which is five less than the previous year.

Role of complainant	2020/21	2020/21 (%)	2019/20	2019/20 (%)
Children/young care leaver	3	9.7%	6	16.7%
Parent	19	61.3%	17	47.2%
Mother	7	22.6%	7	19.4%
Father	1	3.2%	1	2.8%
Foster carers	1	3.2%	2	5.6%
Other (grandparents; advocate; SGO; carer; none)	0	0	3	8.3%
Total	31	100%	36	100%

The largest group of individuals contacting the Trust and having their concerns addressed as a representation remains the mother of a child/children receiving a service from the Trust. Overall mothers lodged a total of 19 of the 31 complaints, and fathers lodging a total of seven of the 31 complaints; three young people lodged complaints which were managed as representations, two were clients of the Leaving Care Service and one was for First Referral.

Method of lodging a representation

To enable service users to make a complaint, the decision on how to make that complaint is entirely up to them. The table below provides information about the method of lodging a complaint.

Method of lodging a complaint	2020/21	2019/20
Email	17	16
In person	0	3
Telephone	14	17
Letter	0	0
Other (e.g. MP)	0	0
Total	31	36

The data for 2020/21 shows that the preferred method of contact was via telephone and email; the Complaints Manager contacted the complainants who had emailed their complaints to discuss their complaint and ask if they wish for their complaint to be progressed as formal Stage One or as a representation.

Timelines of responses to representations

Whilst there is no set timescale for responding to a representation the Trust aims to resolve representations within ten working days in line with the statutory timescales.

This timeframe is applied more flexibly as the aim is to resolve the concerns between the complainant and the Trust through discussion and meetings.

The meetings may be multi-agency with senior managers, which can take longer to arrange and may involve more than one meeting.

In 2020-21 again the majority of representations were resolved within timescales, out of the 31 representations 7 were responded to outside of timescales this maybe partly due to the complicated nature of the complaint and or the complainant being available to discuss their concerns.

Reasons for making a representation

There are many reasons people who are involved with children’s social care will raise concerns or wish to make a complaint, but for the purposes of collecting data the Trust has put them into four categories.

Category 1 Behaviour/ attitude of social worker or staff member

Category 2 Case management decision/ Disagreement with decision

Category 3 Quality of services provided by the Trust

Category 4 Lack of / failure to provide services

Table: Reasons for making a representation

Reason for making representation	2020/21	2020/21 (%)	2019/20	2019/20 (%)
Behaviour or attitude of social worker or staff member	24	77.4%	26	72.2%
Case management decision/disagreement with decision	0	0	4	11.1%
Quality of services provided by the Trust	7	22.6%	6	16.7%
Lack of/failure to provide service	0	0	0	0
Not recorded	0	0	0	0
Total	31	100%	36	100%

The category receiving the most complaints addressed as representations in 2020/21 was ‘behaviour or attitude of social worker or staff member.’ Whilst this was a slight decrease In terms of numbers it was a slightly higher % of the overall reason for complaints this year.

Complaints have enabled managers to focus on areas for improvement within their services and staff behaviour is addressed through individual supervision, staff training and embedded within the Trust Behaviours and Values Policy.

Outcomes of representations

Year	Not upheld	Partially upheld	Upheld	Withdrawn	Abandoned/ declined	Suspended	Pending	N/A	Total
2020/21	16 (51.6 %)	1 (3.2%)	7 (22.6%)	1 (3.2%)	3 (9.7%)	1 (3.2%)	1 (3.2%)	0	31
2019/20	15 (41.7%)	13 (36.1%)	5 (13.9%)	0	1 (2.8%)	0	0	2 (5.6%)	36
2018/19	16 (45.7%)	10 (28.6%)	5 (14.3%)	0	3 (8.6%)	1 (2.9%)	0	0	35
2017/18	22 (47.8%)	17 (37%)	2 (4.3%)	1 (2.2%)	1 (2.2%)	2 (4.3%)	1 (2.2%)	0	46
2016/17	15 (45.5%)	8 (24.2%)	2 (6.1%)	0	0	0	1 (3%)	7 (21.2%)	33

In 2020/21 out of 31 recorded representations there was a percentage increase in representations not upheld; a significant percentage decrease in partially upheld and an increase in representations upheld.

This is positive and shows the impact of trying to manage complaints early, reducing the need to progress into a formal statutory process.

Managers have been very positive and proactive in supporting early resolution through representations.

Three representations were abandoned as the complainant failed to return phone calls/ emails from the investigating officer; one was withdrawn; one was suspended and one remains in progress.

Case example for complaint managed as representation illustrating good practice.

A complaint was received from a young person who came to the Trust offices his complaint was that his social worker was not considering his request for help with driving lessons.

The Manager met with the young person and explained the reasons why, and they agreed that if he can provide evidence that he can afford a car and to run a car in the future we would provide £300 towards his driving lessons.
He agreed that he didn’t wish to progress this to a formal of complaint.

The fact that the Manager took time to meet with the young person and explain the situation was positive and good practice.

Corporate complaints

When a complaint is made the Complaints Manager holds a discussion with the complainant to ascertain the nature of the complaint in order to consider the most appropriate procedure to follow in response to the complaint.

The main criteria being applied for a corporate complaint is any complaint that falls outside of the statutory children’s social care complaints guidance.

Legislation and statutory guidance is used to inform all decisions.

Who is making the corporate complaint?

Role of the complainant	2020/21	2020/21 (%)	2019/20	2019/20 (%)
Children/young care leaver	0	0	0	0
Parent	0	0	0	0
Mother	7	46.7%	6	33.3%
Father	5	33.3%	3	16.7%
Foster carers	0	0	2	11.1%
Other (grandaprentds; advocate; SGO; carer; adopters; sibling)	3	20%	7	38.9%
Total	15	100%	18	100%

The largest group of individuals lodging a corporate complaint is the mother of the child/ren receiving a service from Children First; mother lodged seven out of the total of 15, fathers lodged five complaints.

Method of lodging a complaint

As with statutory complaints service users decide on how they wish to make their complaint.

The table below provides information about the method of lodging a complaint.

Method of lodging a complaint	2020/21	2019/20
Email	15	13
In person	0	1
Telephone	0	4
Letter	0	0
Other (e.g. MP)	0	0
Total	15	18

The preferred method for making complaints in 2020/21 was via email, this may have been due to the lockdown restrictions imposed by the government for Covid.

Reasons for making a complaint

Reason for making complaint	2020/21	2020/21 (%)	2019/20	2019/20 (%)
Behaviour or attitude of social worker or staff member	7	46.7%	9	50%
Case management decision/disagreement with decision	0	0	0	0
Quality of services provided by the Trust	8	53.3%	8	44.4%
Lack of/failure to provide service	0	0	1	5.6%
Not recorded	0	0	0	0
Total	15	100%	18	100%

The category receiving the most corporate complaints in 2020/21 is the ‘quality of services provided this is one more than last year; of these five complaints were not upheld, eight were partially upheld and two were upheld.

This reflects the findings of all types of complaints that work needs to be ongoing to ensure that staff adheres to the Behaviour and Values Framework.

Escalating corporate complaints

In 2020/21 of the 15 corporate complaints three progressed onto Stage Two and one progressed onto Stage Three compared to 2019/20 when four corporate complaints progressed onto Stage Two and then continued onto to Stage Three.

Learning from complaints and representations

The Trust amended the response letter that is sent to complainants to include what action would be taken as a result of the complaint, this evidences reflection and learning by the manager completing the response and evidences to the complainant that action will be taken as a result of their complaint.

In addition the Head of Service is asked to provide evidence of what has been learnt from this complaint and evidence how the learning has been implemented and embedded in practice.

The main learning to in 2020/21 remains the need for clear communication with families and children, which should be addressed in supervision and one to ones.

Case 1 example from mother

Complaint: Mother is unhappy that the social worker has taken the case to Child Protection because of child neglect.

Learning: Team Manager had telephone meeting with mother to explain reasons why this decision had been taken, mother is now engaging with the social worker. The Team Manager was to discuss with the social worker in supervision the need to clearly explain and communicate the decisions that have been taken by the Trust.

Compliments

In addition to managing and monitoring complaints and representations the Trust also collects compliments. It is important to acknowledge compliments as this provides a balance to the complaints received and enables the Trust to share good practice in order to continue to impact on individual learning and reflection.

The compliments have been broken down into three categories, and these are described below:

Category One: Social Work Practice which relates to feedback about the Social Worker’s and allied Trust professionals’ skills and empathy in their communications and practice skills in the work with children and families,

Category Two: Case Management which relates to the skills exercised by the staff of the Trust demonstrated in managing meetings, care and case planning and allocating resources in the process of supporting and safeguarding children, young people and families.

Category Three: Partnership Working which is evidence of Trust staff working in partnership across Services/ Teams within the Trust and between Trust staff and professionals across agencies, to enhance the safeguarding and well being of children, young people and families.

From April 2020 to March 2021 a total number 23 compliments were recorded, this is down from last year when 48 were received, of these 20 related to Category One; three were for Category Two. We believe this number is much higher; however we are only able to report on those compliments that were submitted to the Complaints Manager. We continue to encourage staff across the Trust to submit any compliments they receive.

Category of compliment	No.	%
1. Social work practice	20	87%
2. Case management	3	13%
3. Services provided by the Trust	0	0
Total	23	100%

Compliments are received via a number of different methods. The compliments include positive feedback from children, young people and families, other professionals and community members.

Below are some examples of compliments received by the Trust:

Role of the person making the compliment

Compliments are made by a range of people and in the last year we have received compliments from:

• Parents.
• Adopters
• Family relations
• Young person / care leaver
• Other agencies e.g. legal, health, schools.

Example of a compliment from a mother

I just need to thank x and y . They have been amazing

I have had social workers in the past and never been able to engage with them as they never understood my situation

I can not thank x and Y enough they have been amazing and made so much of a difference to mine and my familys life . They have gone out of their way to help me with baby x and his needs also extended that to helping with my dad and my other children. Baby x has come on so much in the few months I have been working with the Trust. Social worker was amazing over Christmas. She spent most of Christmas eve to make sure we had a working cooker . They are both on the end of the Phone when I evet I need them . There work load must me overwhelming with the current situation but they always have time to help me when I need them …

I normally cant wait for social to close my case and leave .. I can honestly say I dont want x and Y to leave as they have been my rock over the past few months and have changed my life and i mean that hand on my heart

They are a credit to your team and i thought I would send a quick email to you as they deserve some praise

Once again thankyou so much for all the help and support

Example of compliment from guardian

If you can pass on my views to social worker’s manager – she has kept me updated throughout these proceedings regarding this very complex case. I have highlighted to the court that I consider that the positive progress made during these proceedings has been facilitated by the relationship of trust established with the family by the Social Worker and hope that she will remain the allocated Social Worker for the duration of the Supervision Order.

Example of a compliment from external agency – Police

It is with great pleasure that I get to write a letter every now and then with some positive messages to share.
The details of the letter outline the exemplary work of the Child Exploitation Manager in working with a young person through a particularly difficult and distressing court case which led to a successful conviction and imprisonment of the perpetrator.

Member enquiries

The correspondence from the local Members has been recorded by the office of the CEO. Still awaiting this data

Standards for the complaints function

Key aim of complaints function:

The Trust acknowledges that those who access its services are from the most vulnerable sections of the community and, as such, understands the need to continue to strive in delivering a service within a culture of transparency, openness, respect and listening.

The Trust continues to develop and distribute a child/ young person friendly complaints leaflet to continue to ensure that the complaints process is accessible and the Complaints Manager approachable.

The complaints function is accessible, understandable and a well-managed customer-focused service supported by the following standards:

• A service with an established process for managing new complaints.
• A service that is resourced with an accessible, qualified and verified team of Investigating Officers and Independent Persons to support Stage Two investigations.
• A clear complaints procedures and a strong policy base for the management of complaints.
• A complaints training programme, that informs staff of the statutory complaints procedure in children’s services, the role they play in this process and the rights of the service users to complain.
• A culture for staff to see complaints as a means to learn and reflect in their professional practice as Social Workers rather then as a negative force.
• Accessible information for service users on how to make a complaint.
• Accessible information on how to make a compliment.
• A service which is valued by service users and staff.

Developments for 2021/22

• Ensure all those who qualify to utilise the Statutory Complaints Procedures are aware of their right and the knowledge about how to exercise their right to challenge and lodge a complaint.
• Roll out of the eLearning module of Complaints Training.
• Complaints Manager to work with the Reach Out! groups and the IROs to ensure that children and young people are aware of their right to make a complaint and on how to do this.
• To increase access to advocacy for those children / young people who wish to make a complaint.
• Continue to work with managers and social workers to ensure there is learning from complaints and this is incorporated into ongoing personal and professional development priorities.
• Where a complaint does progress to a Stage Two, and the complaints are upheld ensure a learning discussion takes place between the Complaints Manager, Social Worker and their manager.
• The Complaints Manager will hold liaison meetings with the relevant mangers for more complex cases.
• Continue to provide monthly management information on the complaints activity so that operational managers can maintain an oversight of activity and take actions to address issues identified.

Annex One: Complaints procedure summary

Definitions

The Children Act 1989 defines the complaints procedure as being for ‘representations (including complaints)’. A representation could include a complaint, concern, a compliment in regards to the nature, delivery or availability of a service. The representations are defined below:

Complaint: An expression of dissatisfaction or disquiet.

Concern: There are many instances where minor concerns can be addressed without further recourse to the complaints procedure. These are generally handled within the team or informally by the Complaints Manager and resolved through mediation.

Compliment: Comments made to praise or thank someone for the service provided.

Deferred complaint: It may not be possible to respond to a complaint immediately, for example if a case is in, or about to begin Court proceedings; the Trust has discretion in deciding whether to consider the complaint, whereas to do so would prejudice any Court decisions. In such cases the complaint is deferred until the Court proceedings are concluded and then the complaint maybe resubmitted.

Decline complaint: The Trust has the discretion to decide whether or not to accept a complaint made by a person who does not meet the criteria of ‘qualifying individual’.

Representation: Where a complaint has been resolved at a mediatory level and not progressed to the formal Stage One, the Trust has recorded this as a ’representation’ in our data.

Legislation

The arrangements for the Statutory Procedure and Management of Complaints from children and young people (or their representatives) are set out in The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006.

The Legislation requires the Trust to appoint a Complaints Manager responsible for:

• Managing, developing and administering the complaints procedure;
• Providing assistance and advice to those who wish to complain;
• Overseeing the investigation of complaints that cannot be managed at source;
• Supporting and training existing and new members of staff;
• Quality assuring the management of and responses to complaints, and
• Monitoring and reporting on complaints activity and data.

Legislation is supported by detailed guidance from the Department for Education entitled ‘Getting the best from complaints’ which has been taken into account in the complaints procedures published by the Trust.

Statutory complaints procedure at Slough Children’s Services Trust

Responsibility for the service rests with the Head of Quality Assurance and Safeguarding, who manages the Complaints Manager. This ensures independence from the line management of cases and the allocation of resources.

The purpose of the statutory procedure is to enable the complainant to have access to independent consideration of the matters raised.

Complaints process using the statutory procedure:

Stage One: Local resolution

This initial stage provides the Trust with the opportunity to try and resolve issues of dissatisfaction at local level with managers and staff who have responsibility for the case.

The Trust has 10 working days from the acknowledgement of receipt of the complaint in which to respond to the complainant. As a rule, the Practice Manager (PM) of the service in question will write to the complainant within this timescale, providing details of their investigations and any outcomes or decisions made.

Stage Two: Independent investigation

Stage Two involves a full and formal investigation. Having received the response at the conclusion of Stage One, if the complainant remains dissatisfied with the outcome is able to escalate their concerns and request progression of their complaint to the next stage.

The Complaints Manager will appoint an Independent Investigating Officer (IO) to lead the investigation an Independent Person (IP) must also be appointed who works alongside the IO and will be involved in all aspects of the investigation. The role of the IP (as identified in Guidance) is to shadow and oversee the quality of the work of the IO.

The Complaints Manager provides ongoing guidance advice and support during the Stage Two process.

The investigation should be completed and the response sent to the complainant within 25 working days. Where this is not possible, this may be extended to 65 days. The Complaints Manager will maintain a dialogue with the complainant if a response in the 25 working days is not feasible.

On conclusion of the investigation, both the IO and IP individually write a report. The IP comments on the findings outlined in the IO’s as to whether they are in agreement or not with the outcomes and recommendations. Both reports are forwarded to the Head of Service for consideration and response.

Stage Three: Review Panel

Where Stage Two has been concluded and the complainant remains dissatisfied, they will be eligible to request further consideration of the complaint by an Independent Review Panel.

The Panel does not re-investigate the complaints, nor does it consider any new complaints that have not been first considered at Stage Two.

The Panel comprises three people, all of whom must be independent of the Trust. The purpose of the Panel is to consider the complaint and wherever possible, work towards a resolution, which very often takes the form of recommendations made to the Chief Executive of the Trust, who will write to the complainant, informing them of the outcome reached.

The complainant should be advised of their right to refer their complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman if still dissatisfied.

Final Stage: The Local Government Ombudsman

The Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) is impartial and investigates complaints of injustice arising from maladministration by the Trust. When they receive a complaint, the LGO are on the side of neither the complainant nor the Trust.

Complainants are entitled to refer complaints to the LGO at any stage. The LGO however will not normally accept the complaint until the Trust has had a chance to complete all stages of the Complaints Procedures.

This is the final stage that the complainant can take with their complaint, if they remain dissatisfied; their only recourse is through judicial proceedings.

What may be complained about?

Some examples are outlined below (this is not an exclusive list)

• An unwelcome or disputed decision
• Attitude or behaviour of staff
• Poor/ lack of communication
• Application of eligibility and assessment criteria/ assessment care management and review
• Concerns about the quality or appropriateness of a service
• Delay in decision making or provision of services/ delivery or non-delivery of services.

What is exempt from the statutory complaints procedure?

Some examples are outlined below (this is not an exclusive list)

• The person wishing to complain does not meet the requirements of a ‘qualifying individual’. A person is a ‘qualifying individual’ if the Trust have a power or a duty to provide a service to them. A representative can complain on behalf of the child, but there must be a direct connection, for example, have parental responsibility.
• The same complaint has already been dealt with at all stages of the procedure.
• The complaint does not concern the actions or decisions of the Trust (or any body acting on its behalf).
• Regulation 8, as set out in the Children Act 1989 Representation Procedure (England) Regulations 2006 provides the Trust with discretion in deciding whether to consider complaints, where to do so would prejudice any of the following:
  • Court Proceedings
  • Tribunals
  • Disciplinary proceedings
  • Criminal proceedings
  • Grievance proceeding

Timescales for statutory procedure

Each stage in the management of complaints is time limited and the timelines are set out in the regulations. On occasions the time line is not achieved, and when this occurs the Complaints Manager is empowered to negotiate an extension with the complainant.

Some of the reasons why a complaint may need to be managed through the use of a negotiated extension are:

• A more complex complaint may require additional time for a thorough investigation to take place
• Those who need to be interviewed (either professionals or complainant) could be unavailable within timescales due to annual of sick leave
• In some cases a member of staff may have left the Trust and it may take time to contact them and seek their agreement/ involvement in the investigation. Staff who have left are under no obligation to participate in an investigation
• It may take time to secure the services of an IO and an IP.

The progression of requests for an escalation to a Stage Two complaint Investigation because of dissatisfaction with the judgements and outcomes following a Stage One investigation has required requests for an extension, because of the need for the Complaint Manager to build a pool of suitably qualified and vetted IO and IP.

Non statutory complaints procedure in Slough Children’s Services Trust

Complaints not covered by the statutory complaints procedures may be dealt with under the Trust corporate complaint procedure. These are often complaints made by parents, or carers regarding the impact of a service on them personally, liaison and coordination of these remain through the Complaints Manager. The corporate complaint procedure will be developed as follows

Stage One

• The aim of the corporate procedures will be to resolve complaint at the earliest opportunity. Stage One is investigated formally by the manager of the officer with the same rigor and thoroughness as complainants managed through the statutory complaint procedures.

Stage Two

• If the complaint remains unresolved, the Head of Service will initiate an investigation into the complaints made.

Stage Three

• The Chief Executive will review the complaint and consider whether the complaint has been dealt with appropriately.

The timescale for corporate complaints will mirror the timescale for the statutory procedure in order to maintain and monitor standards.