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To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.
Are you a parent, kinship carer relative or friend of a child who is involved with, or who needs the help of, children’s services in England? We can help you understand processes and options when social workers or courts are making decisions about your child’s welfare.
Our advice service is free, independent and confidential.
To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.
Our online advice forums are an anonymous space where parents and kinship carers (also known as family and friends carers) can get legal and practical advice, build a support network and learn from other people’s experiences.
Our get help and advice section has template letters, advice sheets and resources about legal and social care processes. On Monday and Wednesday afternoons, you can use our webchat service to chat online to an adviser.
The timescale for this stage is 25 to 65 days.
If the complaint was made verbally at the beginning of the complaints process, children’s services must now make a written record of it. They must ask the complainant (the person making the complaint) to agree or comment on, the written record. They may hold a meeting with the complainant to do this, or just write to them. This record will then form the complaint representations for stage 2 (see Regulation 16 of the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure Regulations 2006).
For a formal investigation, children’s services must appoint two people to review the complaint. They are an Investigating Officer and an Independent Person.
The table below explains each of those roles. And the activities they must carry out. The role of a third person – the Adjudicating Officer – is also explained (see Getting the best from complaints 2006 at paragraph 3.6 and Appendix 1).
The investigation report should be completed by the investigating officer and a response sent to the complainant within 25 working days.
The maximum time they can take to complete the investigation is 65 working days from the date that the investigation began (see regulation 17(6) of the Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure Regulations 2006 and Getting the best from complaints 2006 at paragraph 3.7).
The adjudicating officer must make sure any recommendations made are carried out.
If the complainant is not happy with the outcome, they can ask that a panel review the decision. The complainant has 20 days to tell children’s services they want a review. The complainant must say they want a panel review, and give reasons (see regulation 18).
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