This information is for any Child or Young Person who wants to make a comment about the Children’s Social Care. You have the right to make a complaint or pay a compliment about the care and services you receive from Bolton Council.
Why not pay us a compliment?
If you are happy and want to tell us about it then pay us a compliment. If you share your good experiences with us, it tells us we are doing a good job. It may be that we can then share these positive experiences to improve services in other areas, that way we can make other people happy as well. You can put your comments on the the Guide to Comments, Compliments and Complaints leaflet, they can be downloaded in the downloads section on the right of this page, or you can send us a letter or an email.
Do you want to complain?
If you are not happy with the way you have been treated, then tell some one you trust. Tell them about your problem, this person could be your Social Worker, Parent, a Carer, a Foster Carer, your Teacher, Family Support Worker or your Residential Worker, tell them what is wrong and what you want to see happen.
If you want help, we will help you to find someone to support you through your complaint, they are called Advocates. You can contact the Customer Relations Officer on 01204 332007, but don’t worry, you will not have to go into any details at this point, we will just put you in touch with ‘Action for Children’ and they will help you sort though your problem.
If you are nervous or find it difficult to talk about it, then there is a complaints form that you can fill in, there are actually 2 versions and which one you use is entirely up to you, and they can be downloaded in the downloads section to the right of this page. You can put your comments on the back of the Guide to Complaints, Comments and Compliments leaflet or on the Complaints form
If you do complain we promise to:
- Take what you say seriously
- Try to put things right
- Get someone independent to help you – if that’s what you want
- Make sure you have your say
- Keep you up to date on how your complaint is progressing
- Explain our decisions
So what will happen if you do complain?
There are up to 4 Stages in dealing with a complaint
Stage 1 – Hopefully the problem will be sorted out by the person you decide to talk to, we aim to sort your problem out within 10 working days, but sometimes it can take as long as 20 working days
Stage 2 – If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, then you can ask for an investigation by phoning or writing to the Customer Relations Officer within 20 working days.
A senior officer will then make an enquiry on your behalf. The Customer Relations Officer will discuss this with you. We will aim to send you a written reply within 25 working days. If we can't reply within that time, then we will tell you why, and let you know when you can expect a reply. This will be within 65 working days.
Stage 3 – If, after receiving the reply, you are still unhappy, then you can ask for your complaint to be reviewed by a panel of independent people who have not previously been involved in the complaint. Just contact the Children's Customer Realtions Officer within 20 working days of the reply.
The panel will consider whether or not reasonable efforts have been made to resolve your complaint and what, if anything could still be done.
Stage 4 – The Local Government Ombudsman, is usually the last resort if you are still not happy. You can ask them to look at your complaint at any time, but they usually prefer the Council to have had a look at your complaint first which is why they are usually, the final stage.
They can be contacted at:
The Local Government Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH
Telephone Number: 0845 602 1983 or 0300 061 0614
Email: advice@lgo.org.uk