Fall in complaints received by Northumberland children's services department

The department’s annual report, presented to members of the council’s family and children’s services overview and scrutiny committee, also revealed an increase in the number of compliments received by the team.

The number of complaints had fallen from 47 in 2020/21 to 36 in 2021/22. This was also a further fall from the 50 recorded in 2019/20.

Karen Willis, the team’s complaints manager, said: “We have seen a slight decrease in the number of formal recorded complaints. We put this down to trying to achieve management and resolution at an earlier stage.

“We don’t focus on the number received, we focus on the number that are upheld or partly upheld, and whether they have been resolved satisfactorily.”

The report presented to members also noted that of the 36 complaints, just two were from looked after young people, with the majority of complaints received in relation to Children’s Services are from parents/carers or other involved relevant adults.

Of the 36 complaints, four were refused while the remaining 32 were accepted and progressed.

Two remain ongoing and have progressed to stage two, while eight were partially upheld, five were fully upheld and 15 were not upheld.

Of the remaining two, both were stopped and one was referred to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) who isresponsible for co-ordinating the response to concerns that an adult who works with children may have caused them or could cause them harm.