Education Welfare Service complaints procedure
How do I make a complaint?
We hope that you do not have cause to complain, but if you do, in the first instance it is best to speak to someone at the place where the problem happened. Very often they will be able to help you, or if they can't, they will be able to direct you to the right person to handle your complaint. If this has not resolved your concern you can complain:
- in writing to the Senior Educational Welfare Officer, Children's Services, Plymouth City Council, Plymouth, PL1 2AA.
- by telephoning the Education Welfare Service.
What you can expect from us
We will write to you within three working days of receiving your complaint either to respond in full or acknowledge that we have received it.
We will investigate. If this is the first time you have complained about this matter, (we call this stage one) the Senior Education Welfare Officer will look into what has happened and what can be done to rectify the situation.
We will send a full response within 10 working days of receiving your complaint. After looking into the complaint, we will tell you what we can do about it. Sometimes more complex complaints may take longer but we will keep you informed of progress.
Be assured that should you wish to pursue a complaint, you will be treated with dignity, respect, fairness and confidentially at all times.
If you are not satisfied with the response you have received
You can ask us to reconsider our decision. We call this a stage two complaint. The Senior Education Officer will look at your complaint and may change the decision. If the decision stays the same we will explain why. We will acknowledge your complaint and then send a full response within 25 workings days of you asking us to reconsider. If it is going to take longer we will let you know. If you are still not satisfied with our performance, then you may move to stage three.
The Assistant Director for Children's Services or Director for Children's Services will look at your complaint at stage three and may change the decision. Again, if the decision stays the same we will explain why. The timescale for a response is the same as at stage two.
If you feel that the problem is still not resolved
We hope that your complaint is resolved before this stage, but if you are still unhappy with our response or feel we have failed to put it right, you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman. This is an independent organisation which investigates complains about councils.
