Sefton Council apologises after child services complaint

Sefton Council has apologised to the parents of a young girl who complained that it’s child protection enquiries were intrusive, lacked sensitivity, acted inappropriately and breached confidentiality.

The issue is one of 83 registered complaints about the borough’s children’s services made within the space of twelve months.

A report obtained by The Champion this week shows the full extent of the concerns and issues relayed to the council between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2010.
While the report, which set to be discussed last night at a council meeting, shows the complaint type and how they were resolved, it omits personal details to protect anonymity.

Sefton Council was asked to apologise in 18 incidents of complaints regarding their children’s services throughout the year.

And a further five incidents were resolved by using means of ‘finance.’
The report shows there has been a reduction in the number of complaints about finance and funding but an increase in complaints regarding quality and reliability of services.

It will prove sobering reading for council workers who are set to cut back £44million from their budget for the next financial year.

The council apologised to a family who complained that the department had not treated them sensitively following the death of their grandson.

It also apologised after a parent complained that her child with ADHD wasn’t receiving adequate support.

The council also received 81 complaints regarding schools.

The report states: “Complaints provide a valuable indication of areas where services may need to be reviewed or improved.

“Some complaints highlight an error or concern that is specific to one individual or family.

“In other cases, complaints can highlight issues that impact many families across the service.

“These issues can be identified through detailed case reviews prompted by complaints, or identification of patterns and trends from a number of complaints.“

In addition to the complaints, 13 compliments were received in relation to children’s social care services.