When to make a complaint, how to make a complaint, what happens when you make a complaint if you’re a young person in care.
When to make a complaint
If you’re unhappy about something to do with your care, you should try to tell one of the adults who looks after you, such as:
- your social worker
- an advocate
If the adults around you know how you feel, they can start to change things for you.
If you feel that people aren’t listening to you, you can make a complaint.
You might make a complaint because you feel:
- you haven’t been treated fairly
- that someone involved in your care isn’t listening to you
How to make a complaint
You can:
- make the complaint yourself
- ask an advocate to support you
- ask an adult to make the complaint for you
Make the complaint yourself
Contact Bristol City Council’s complaints team:
- with the online form
- by email: complaints.feedback@bristol.gov.uk
- by post: write to Customer Relations (100 TS), PO Box 3399, Bristol BS1 9NE
Ask an advocate to support you
If you want to talk to someone independent about your complaint you can get an advocate. An advocate can explain the complaints process to you and will support you the whole way through. They can also make the complaint on your behalf.
Ask an adult to make the complaint for you
Talk to an adult you trust and ask them to make the complaint for you. Any adult can do this for you, it doesn’t have to be someone involved in your care. You could ask:
- your foster carer
- a teacher
- a relative
What happens when you make a complaint
There are three response stages when you make a complaint.
Stage 1
When we get your complaint, we’ll try to reply within 10 working days. If your complaint is complex, this may take up to 20 working days.
If you’re not happy with our response, you can ask for your complaint to move on to stage 2.
Stage 2
An investigating officer and an independent person do a formal investigation of our response, which can take up to 65 working days. They’ll write a report, and a senior manager will send you a response.
If you’re not happy with the senior manager’s response, you can ask for your complaint to move on to stage 3.
Stage 3
A panel of three independent people review your complaint. They look at how we handled it, and suggest how to resolve it. This can take up to 50 working days.
If you’re not happy with their review, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman Go to https://www.lgo.org.uk/ (opens new window) is a free, independent service that investigates complaints about councils.