The panel must produce a written report with their proposals for resolving the complaint.
They must send this report to the complainant and to children’s services. They must do so within 5 working days (see regulation 20 of the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure Regulations 2006. See also Getting the best from complaints 2006 at paragraph 3.18)
A senior person from children’s services will then review the panel’s proposals. This senior person must consult with the independent person involved at stage 2. They must then write to the person making the complaint to give them a final response. This must be done within 15 days of receiving the panel’s report (see regulation 20(3) of the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure Regulations 2006).
Children services do not have to follow the panel’s recommendations. But they must have a good reason for not doing so and must set these reasons out in writing to the complainant.
If the complainant is still not happy with the outcome, he can refer his complaints to the Local Government Ombudsman (see regulation 20(3)) and also Getting the best from complaints 2006 at paragraph 3.18.2.