How to make a complaint
You can complain if you're a child, care leaver, or adult who has requested or received a service from Children's Services at the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
If you're a parent, or a person who has sufficient interest in a child's welfare, you can also complain on a child's behalf.
Who you should contact
If you're not happy with a service we've provided, the first thing you should do is contact a member of the team in the service.
We can often put the problem right without the need to follow the formal complaints procedure.
If you're a looked after child, you can also contact your independent reviewing officer on 020 8921 8888.
Make a formal complaint
After this, if you're not happy with how the service area or officer has responded to your issue, then you can use our online form to make a formal complaint.
How we'll treat your complaint
There are 2 processes for making formal complaints within Children's Services, depending on what your complaint is about:
- Corporate complaints procedure - for example, school admissions, special educational needs provisions, school attendance and early help services
- Statutory Children Act complaints procedure - children's social care.
Final stage of complaints
If you're not happy with how we've treated your formal complaint, you can go to the Local Government Ombudsman. This is an independent and free service that investigates complaints about councils.
Get help making a complaint
If you're a child in our care or a young person leaving care, you can get support and help in making your complaint from our Independent Advocacy Service.
Contact your Social Worker or Independent Reviewing Officer for help making a complaint.
Contact Children's Services for more information and guidance.