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Making a complaint about children's or adult social care
How to make a complaint about social care services
The complaints procedure for adult social care and children’s services are different from most of the other services we provide.
Complaints about children’s social care services
There are three stages to the procedure. If you are unhappy with our response at any stage, you can choose to take your complaint further.
You can also withdraw your complaint at any stage.
Complaining will not guarantee that you get new or alternative services, but you may get an explanation about the lack of services or decisions made.
Stage one - local resolution and problem solving
Most complaints can be settled quite simply by discussing your problem with a member of staff on hand or with the team in Children's Services.
We aim to settle your complaint as quickly as possible, usually between 10 and 20 working days.
If it is not possible to settle your complaint locally, or you remain dissatisfied with the answer you receive, you may want to take your complaint to stage two of the procedure.
Stage two - investigation stage
If your complaint cannot be resolved locally, you can request for it to be considered at stage two by an Investigating Officer and Independent Person who will be appointed to examine your complaint.
A complaint investigation at this stage can take between 25 and 65 working days.
Stage three - Review Panel
If you're not happy with the explanation or solution offered to you at stage two, you have the right to ask for any outstanding issues to be considered again, this time by an Independent Review Panel.
The Independent Review Panel should meet within 30 days of you requesting it. Afterwards, the Panel must provide you with its report within five working days. The council then has 15 working days to respond to the Panel’s findings.
Complaints about children’s social care are investigated under The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006
Complaints about adult social care services
When we receive a complaint, we will usually try to speak or meet with you to find out a bit more about it and what we think can resolve it. This process helps us work together to ensure we are considering the matter thoroughly.
We will put things right if we can, within an agreed timescale.
If we cannot resolve a complaint, we will always provide a full and open explanation of our decisions or actions.
Complaints about Adult Social Care are investigated under The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009.
Make a complaint about children’s or adult social care services
You can make a complaint by using our online form.
You can also make a complaint by:
Email: complaints@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 373 3300
Post: Complaints Team
Westmorland and Furness Council
South Lakeland House
Lowther Street
Kendal
LA9 4DQ
Please contact us if you need adjustments or have additional needs to make a complaint. For example, if you need information printed in Braille or translated into another language. We’ll discuss this with you to agree how we can best help.