Section outline

  • The following table summarises the complaint routes that are frequently used:

    Complaints made to

    Detail and links

    How is this responded to?

    Further comments

    The LA or Director of Children’s Services - directly

     

    Complaints about a school matter

    The Complaints/ Team

    • refers the complainant to school’s/Trust’s complaints’ policy
    • update Assistant Director (AD) – update County Education Manager (CEM)

     

     

     

    Ofsted

    Ofsted should triage the complaint to determine whether it meets their threshold for safeguarding, categorise the concern and share it with the LA, or dismiss.

     

    Rarely is the concern dismissed.

     

    • AD shares with relevant CEM
    • Depending upon concerns raised the school is contacted
    • Response drafted including that complainant MUST use the legal process of following the school/Trust’s complaints’ policy
    • An HMI may wish to discuss the concerns raised with a senior officer, so meetings are arranged
    • Ofsted will retain the concern/complaint on the school’s portal to be accessed at the next scheduled inspection, and which may inform a line of enquiry.
    • The frequency of externally received complaints to Ofsted may trigger an unannounced inspection.

    DfE

    To be used when a complainant is not happy in the way in which a complaint has been dealt with, a child is not getting an education, or a child has been exposed to harm

     

     The DfE will

    • write to the LA and share the concern, for it to consider
    • write to the school and request that they submit their complaint investigate paperwork and response to the complaint/complainant to the DfE, for checking its compliance and congruence against the complaint’s policy, and inform the LA
    • DfE is largely checking that the school governance is not in breach of its complaints’ policy in respect of the process- rarely questioning the conclusion.
    • The DfE’s website states that at the point of a complainant using the DfE portal, their communication with the school should be uploaded to demonstrate that the earlier process has been completed, however it is not necessary to do this in order to proceed

    Councillors

     

    MP

    Complainant uses district councillor contact

     

     

     

    Complainant uses MP contact

     

     

     

     

    The councillor/MP should direct the complainant to the school’s complaints process; at times schools have raised that a complainant contacting a councillor has enabled them to by-pass the agreed legal process, underwritten by the school’s complaints’ policy.

     

    If a councillor/MP complaint is received by the LA, the Director CS or AD-E&I may request that the relevant CEM responds.
    • Councillors/MPs are advised that the local authority cannot disclose personal information about pupils to them, or risk being in breach of safeguarding regulations.
    • Councillors/MPs are advised to be aware that the information reported to them may not be complete, and that there have been occasions when councillors have become personally involved which might affect their objectivity.
    • If there is a view that the complainant needs help to be able to navigate the complaints process, there are organisations such as Parent Partnership that can assist.
    • If a written response is made by the LA to a councillor/MP the response may be shared in full with the complainant.