Children's services complaints

We are committed to putting you, our customers, first. That means we're always pleased to hear what you have to say about the services we provide, whether you are a child, young adult, service user, family member or resident to Swindon Borough Council.

You can help us to improve our children services by letting us know if we are doing a good job and how we can do better. If something hasn’t gone so well, we need to know so that we can put it right.

A complaint is a verbal or written expression of dissatisfaction or concern about the actions, decisions or apparent failings for which you want a response.

Complaints about children social services may fall under the statutory children complaints process, the general complaints process or another appeals process. For example, SEND Tribunal is separate to the complaints process.

The compliments and complaints team will advise you or alternatively, you can find additional information in Section 2 of our customer feedback and complaints handling policy. 

Children's statutory complaints process

In general, assessments and services in the following areas can be considered under the statutory children’s complaints process:

  • Children in need
  • Looked after children
  • Special Guardianship support
  • Post-adoption support

Complaints that do not fall into the children statutory complaints process may still be considered and progressed through our formal corporate complaint process.

If there are current legal proceedings, and your complaint relates to Children’s services, the complainant may submit their complaint as long as it is within one year of the conclusion of the legal proceedings.

Please note: Schools have their own complaint procedures.

All our complaints processes are available to complete online however, there are further options if you can't do it online.

The complaints procedure covers complaints made to children’s social services, children’s community health services and early help teams, and includes our SEND service.

Making a complaint

You can make a complaint about children services in any of the following ways: 

You can also write to:

Compliments and complaints team
Swindon Borough Council
Wat Tyler West Ground Floor
Beckhampton Street
SN1 2JG

If you are a child in care or a care leaver and need assistance in submitting a complaint, then please contact Coram Voice. It is a charitable organisation. They can help you to get advice, show you what to do and make sure you are listened to.

The three stages of the process

Our children’s statutory social care complaints process adheres to the government guidance 'Getting the best from complaints'. The process consists of three stages: 

  • Stage one: Investigation by the children’s team
  • Stage two: An independent investigation
  • Stage three: An independent panel

Your complaint will initially be dealt with under Stage one of the complaint’s procedure. 

When we receive your complaint, we will contact you within three working days to confirm receipt of your complaint and let you know if we can look into it further under the statutory children complaints process.  

You have a right to have your complaint investigated and to receive a full and prompt reply. Should you need help with the complaints process, we will always try to find someone to support and assist you. Complaints can be about any aspect of children and young people’s services.

Stage one

  • The manager of the service you are complaining about will investigate your complaint and will write to you with their findings
  • To help them do this they may contact you to discuss your concerns
  • They will usually write to you within ten working days of receiving your complaint. However, it may take up to 20 working days if your complaint is complex.
  • If there is a disagreement, a resolutions meeting will be offered in an attempt to resolve the outstanding concerns  

Stage two

  • If you're unhappy with the Stage one response, you can escalate you complaint explaining why the Stage one response did not answer your complaint. You can also advise us what you would like to happen to put things right.
  • You can request a Stage two investigation at any time. However, to keep the momentum of the complaint, we suggest you do this within 20 working days from the date you received your Stage one response.
  • An investigating officer will be appointed to investigate your complaint. An independent person will be appointed to ensure that the investigation process is open, transparent and fair.
  • The investigating officer will write a report with their findings and recommendations
  • A director of children’s services will consider the report and then write to you with their decision
  • We aim to respond to you within 25 working days. This can be extended to 65 working days for complex complaints, which need a longer investigation.

Stage three

  • If you are still unhappy when you have received the response, you can request to go to Stage three of the process - a review panel hearing 
  • If you want to go to a review panel hearing, you will need to contact the compliments and complaints team. You will need to explain what you are unhappy about and what you expect from the review. 
  • You must make your request within 20 working days of receiving the response letter from Stage two
  • In Stage three a panel of three independent people look at whether your complaint was dealt with adequately at Stage two. None of these people will have been connected with your complaint or know anything about the investigation so far.
  • The review panel hearing will be arranged and held within 30 working days of the date when your request was received by the compliments and complaints team
  • You may attend the hearing to present your case, but you don’t have to
  • If you decide to attend, you can be accompanied by another person who can speak for you
  • The recommendations and notes of the review panel will be sent to the director of children’s services within five working days of the end of the hearing. You will be sent a copy at the same time.
  • The director will consider their decision and will write to you within 15 working days of receiving the review panels recommendations 

This is the end of our internal statutory children’s social care complaints procedure.

If you remain unhappy

If you are still unhappy or feel your complaint has not been properly dealt with through our statutory complaints procedure, you can take your complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). They investigate complaints in a fair and independent way and do not take sides. It is a free service.

You can speak to the LGSCO at any time. They would normally expect you to have given us a chance to deal with your complaint before you contact them. 

Alternatively, you may make representation to a Councillor, who will pass the complaint to us on your behalf for consideration and response.

If you are a child or a young person in care or in receipt of other children’s services, and you are unhappy with the service you have received, you can request an advocate to help you to make your complaint.

We will keep in touch with you to update you while the investigation is ongoing.

Make a complaint, comment or compliment about children's services

Further advice

For further information regarding our complaints procedures, please see our customer feedback and complaints handling policy. 

You can also contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for further advice.

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