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I am writing regarding the handling of statutory children act stage one complaints within your children’s services department. The purpose of this request is to better understand current practices and support mechanisms in place for staff handling complaints, with a view to informing the development of a training offer for professionals in this area. I would be grateful if you could provide responses to the following questions:

Complaints Process:
1. Could you provide an outline or a copy of the guidance or policy your local authority follows for handling stage one complaints within children’s services?
The council has what is titled a 'Customer Voice' policy. This outlines our commitment to our customers and also details the various complaints processes available to them should they be dissatisfied with our services.

With regard to complaints made about children's social care services, the council operates a process in line with the statutory 'Getting the Best From Complaints' guidance - which focuses on 'Social Care Complaints and Representations for Children, Young People and Others'.

2. Are there any specific timelines or standards set for responding to stage one complaints?
For complaints handled under the council's corporate process, the timescale for responding to a case at stage one is ten working days. There is an option of extending to 20 working days where the scope of concerns are particularly complex, and require additional time to consider.

With statutory children's social care complaints, there is also a timescale of ten working days to respond to cases handled at stage one; however, as with corporate complaints, there is an option to extend to 20 working days where the scope of concerns are particularly complex, and require additional time to consider.

Investigations and Roles:
3. Who typically conducts investigations into stage one complaints (e.g., social workers, team managers, independent officers)?
Complaints considered at stage one will typically be lead on by the Team Manager for the service to which the concerns relate.

4. Are staff who handle stage one complaints required to have specific qualifications, training, or experience?
Council officers are not required to have any specific qualifications and/or experience in order to lead on investigations at stage one. Training in connection to complaints and representations is made available to all staff within Children's Services, and is delivered to them by the in-house Complaints & Representations Manager.

Training and Support:
5. Is there mandatory training for staff who handle stage one complaints? If so, what topics are covered (e.g., communication skills, managing conflict, legal frameworks)?
As noted in response to question four, training around managing/handling complaints is rolled out to staff within Children's Services by the Complaints & Representations Manager. At present, this is not mandatory; however, all those staff who are/may be required to lead on responding to complaints about their services are encouraged to attend.

The training sessions focus on:

i. Outlining the different complaints processes that customers can raise concerns to us via.
ii. Covering why we have such complaints processes in place.
iii. What is defined as a complaint, representation and compliment.
iv. Defining who is in a position to make a complaint.
v. Discussing the various stages of the complaints processes and the timescales for each.
vi. Outlining best practice for approaching investigations and drafting responses.
vii. Explaining who the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) are, and the role they play in the complaints process.
viii. Discussing management of potentially 'unreasonably persistent' complainants/customers.

6. How frequently is this training provided, and who delivers it (e.g., internal trainers, external providers)?
Typically, these training sessions are delivered three times each financial year; however, this will be dependent on take up for each of the sessions. As highlighted previously, these sessions are delivered by the council's in-house Complaints & Representations Manager.

7. Are staff provided with written guidance, templates, or other resources to support them in responding to complaints? If this exists, please provide as part of your response.
Council staff are able to refer to the aforementioned 'Customer Voice' policy for guidance on the process/es to follow when managing/responding to complaints.

Within Children's Services, staff have access to an internal 'Complaints and Representations' policy document, which acts as guidance. In addition, there are draft templates which are made available to staff - which assist in providing structure for responding to complaints.

Effectiveness and Development:
8. Has the effectiveness of the training or support provided to staff been evaluated? If so, what were the findings? please share any reports.
No formal evaluation exercise focused on the training and/or support provided to staff has been completed. As such, there are no findings - nor reports - that can be shared.

9. Are there any identified areas where staff have requested additional training or support?
There are no records to show that staff have pro-actively requested additional training or support.

10. Are there specific challenges that staff face when handling stage one complaints that training could help address (e.g., managing complainant expectations, responding empathetically, or handling complex cases)?
The challenges faced by staff managing and responding to complaints can differ on a case-by-case basis. Of those examples listed, managing complainant expectations and handling of complex cases are some of the more common challenges that resonate with the services our organisation provide.

11. Do you have any internal process for quality assuring stage one responses? please provide the guidance or framework used if so.
Within Children’s Services, stage one complaint responses are subject to a quality assurance check by the Complaints & Representations Manager. This is outlined in the aforementioned 'Complaints and Representations' policy document.

Complaints Volume and Outcomes:
12. Over the past 12 months, how many stage one complaints were received within children’s services?
To clarify, based on the ‘complete’ data we have access to, the following are details of those complaints considered under the scope of the 'Social Care Complaints and Representations for Children, Young People and Others' between quarter three of the 2023-’24 financial year, and quarter two of 2024-’25 financial year. In this period, there were 20 complaints considered and responded to at stage one.

13. Of these, how many were resolved at stage one without progressing further? How many progressed to stage two?
Of the 20 complaints referred to in response to question 12, three of these complaints were subsequently escalated to stage two.

Future Training Opportunities:
14. Would your local authority be open to discussing training opportunities for staff involved in stage one complaints?
Not an FOI question. We are satisfied with the internal training offer that we have available and, therefore, we do feel that further discussion is required.

15. If yes, could you indicate the appropriate person or department to contact regarding such opportunities?
Not applicable at this time, as we are satisfied with our internal training offer.

16. Finally, please provide contact details for the customer relations, or complaints manager for children’s services.
The council's corporate Customer Relations Team can be contacted at CustomerRelations@wokingham.gov.uk

The Complaints & Representations Manager within Children's Services can be contacted at ChildrensServicesComplaints@wokingham.gov.uk