Agenda item

Report of the Director of Children’s Prevention, Family Help and Safeguarding, Children and Learning.

This report provides information about complaints made to the Children’s statutory services in the London Borough of Camden during the twelve months between 1^st April 2023 and 31^st March 2024. It is a statutory requirement to produce an annual report which is published on the Council’s website.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Relational Practice.

Nana Bonsu, Director of Relational Practice, introduced and summarised the statutory annual report which provided information about complaints made to the Children’s statutory services in the London Borough of Camden during the twelve months between April 2023 and March 2024.

The Chair thanked officers for the report and invited questions and comments from the Committee. The following was discussed:

·       A Member raised concerns about the representation of ethnicity in the complaints data, noting that it did not align with the general ethnic composition of young people in Camden. They questioned whether this discrepancy reflected satisfaction among ethnic minority groups, or discomfort in engaging with the complaints process. Members asked whether the current data provided good representation or whether certain demographics were underrepresented in complaints. In response, officers explained that Corporate Services did not currently collect ethnicity data, but planned to introduce a feedback form to gather demographic information from 2025. For the current report, ethnicity data had been manually sourced from the MOSAIC (integrated service for children and young people with disabilities and their families) database, which was incomplete but provided some insight. Officers emphasised the need for more granular data in future reports and noted that current figures did not capture complaints resolved informally before Stage 1 of the process. Officers recognised the potential barriers faced by some demographic groups, including language challenges, and highlighted the importance of ensuring equitable access to advocacy and offer clear communication about what to expect from services. They proposed exploring benchmarking to assess whether the level of complaints reflected a confident and empowered user base. Additionally, officers noted the importance of gathering feedback through alternative channels to ensure the voices of all service users were heard.

·       A Member raised concerns that some residents might not be aware of their right to complain or that they could contact councillors. They noted that complaints data might not fully reflect issues, as by the time people reached the complaints stage, their situation might have significantly deteriorated. The Member also queried why there were more complaints about Children in Need services than Children Looked After services. Officers explained that the higher volume of complaints related to Children in Need services was likely due to the size of the service, which was one of the largest within the department. They noted that Children in Need and Child Protection services involved more direct contact with families than some other areas, such as the Children Looked After or Quality Assurance services. Officers highlighted that the nature of the work in these services, particularly around support and risk, introduced complexities that could influence how families experienced the service. They acknowledged that decisions made in these areas were often challenging and emphasised the importance of communicating respectfully and effectively with families during difficult times. Officers suggested that the context and dynamics of the work were likely factors influencing the complaints data.

·       In relation to the table in section 4.2, a Member noted that Camden’s ability to resolve Stage 1 complaints had declined each year and asked for an explanation for this trend. In response, officers did not have explanation for why figures were higher in 2019/2020 to hand, but they acknowledged that in more recent years there had been challenges in developing a better system and that the Corporate Complaints Service required more support from Children’s Services, which had now been rectified. Officers said they would investigate to better understand the variation between 2019/2020 and 2023/2024. With improvements in the system, residents making complaints should expect an improvement on timeliness to a response from the Council.

·       In relation to section 6, a Member raised concerns over the lack of progress on communication and interactions with families. They also said the responses to families appeared to vary depending on the individual social worker and they asked what work was taking place to address these issues strategically. In response, officers acknowledged the concerns and agreed that communication should be a fundamental part of the service. They noted that addressing these issues was important and that work was needed to ensure more consistent practice across the service.

RESOLVED - 

THAT the Committee comment on and note the report.