Feedback and complaints about Children's Services

We care about what you think. If you have a problem with our services, we want to fix it. If we make a mistake, we will say sorry and try to put things right. We learn from complaints to make our services better.

Complaints about a school or academy

Contact the school to talk about the problem first - most problems can be solved this way.

The local authority does not manage complaints about schools or academies.

We review any complaints that we receive. We will usually direct you to the school’s own complaints process.

In some cases, we refer concerns raised with us to our school safeguarding team. They will record the information and if appropriate, act. The safeguarding team will not be able to provide feedback on individual cases. But they carefully consider every concern that they receive.

Making a formal complaint

Follow all the steps in the school’s complaints procedure to make a formal complaint. Every school must have a complaints procedure. It is often on the school’s website. It tells you how to complain and how to take it further if:

  • you are not happy with their response or
  • you do not think they followed the process correctly.

Complaints to the Department for Education

You can complain to the Department for Education (DfE) if:

  • a child is at risk
  • a child is missing school
  • the school is stopping you from following its complaints procedure, or
  • you think the school did not deal with your complaint correctly. You must have followed all the steps in the school’s complaints procedure.

Tell Ofsted about a problem

Ofsted cannot respond to or resolve individual complaints. However, you can still tell Ofsted about a problem with a school. They can use the information you provide to decide when to inspect and what areas to inspect.

Can I complain?

You must:

  • have parental responsibility for the child involved
  • have no other legal cases about the complaint
  • complain within 12 months
  • finish any appeals process

How do I complain?

1.      Talk to the person you’ve been dealing with or their manager. Say what went wrong and how they can fix it. Be clear about what you want and how they can help you.

2.      If things still aren’t right, click the button below to make a complaint about Children’s Services. First, we will validate your complaint and then take the details. Make sure you tell us what you think went wrong and what you would like us to do to fix it.

3. We will ask you to confirm that we understand your concerns correctly. We’ll also ask you to tell us what outcome you’re hoping for.

4. If we can’t sort things out straight away, we’ll aim to give you a full response within 20 working days. If it takes longer, we’ll tell you and explain why.

5. If you’re not happy with the response, let us know. We will tell you what you can do next, or confirm you’ve reached the end of the complaints process.

6. If you’re still not satisfied, you can contact the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman.

Start your complaint

Complaints policy

We care about what you think.

If you have a problem with our services, we want to fix it. If we make a mistake, we will say sorry and try to put things right

We learn from complaints to make our services better.

Read our complaints policy.

Compliments

Tell us what we have done well. Please let us know:

  • the name of the staff member or team
  • what went well

Send your compliment to the Customer Relations team.

We’ll share this compliment with the person concerned and their manager.

Annual complaints report

Every year, we write a summary of the complaints we handle. We also talk about:

  • Compliments
  • Questions from elected members
  • Other feedback we receive

The report covers the last financial year ending on 31st March.

You can read our latest  annual report [306.7 KB] [pdf]. (14 pages)

Consent and consent form

If you are complaining on behalf of an older child or another adult, you will need to provide written consent from them. This will confirm that they agree to you submitting a complaint on their behalf. They need to confirm that they agree with the content of the complaint. They also need to give permission for us to share confidential information with you.

You can complete the consent process online here: Consent form

Or you can print this consent form and post or email it back to us:
Download our consent form [4.6 KB] [pdf]

Email: csdfeedback-icw@eastsussex.gov.uk

Post: Customer Relations Team
           County Hall
           St Anne’s Crescent
           Lewes
           BN7 1UE

We will not be able to respond to complaints on behalf of older children or other adults if we do not have a completed consent form.