We have a separate page about what to do if you are unhappy about something in relation to your child/young person’s education, health and care plan
Informal Complaint
In the first instance, if you are unhappy about something you should let the person who is involved in the decision or situation know. This could be your child/young person’s teacher or the school SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinators), the health professional e.g. speech and language therapist, the social care professional for instance, early help worker or social care assistant. If you feel that this would be inappropriate you could contact their line manager but stress at this time that it is an informal complaint and that you would like to work with them to resolve the issue.
You can make an informal complaint verbally, by phone, email, text or letter. However, you may wish to use a method that records your informal complaint in case it is not resolved.
Some organisations have complaints policies that explain about making an informal complaint first.
If making an informal complaint does not resolve the issue or you do not get a response you may wish to escalate the situation to the next level and make a formal complaint.
Education Complaint
The formal complaint procedure that you will need to follow depends on who you are making the complaint about.
School / Education Provider
Schools and other education providers should have their complaints policies easily accessible on their websites. These policies should clearly explain the correct procedure you need to follow in order to make a formal complaint.
I have made a formal complaint to the Headteacher, but I am still not happy
If you have tried complaining to the Headteacher and are not satisfied with the response you have received and you believe the school are not using their ‘best endeavours’ duty to provide support for your child/young person’s SEN needs, you could consider making a complaint to the board of governors or academy trust, if it is an academy school. Check the school’s complaints policy on their website to ensure you are following this. You can find out more about complaining to the governors through the link below.
Can you complain to Ofsted about a school?
Ofsted cannot seek to resolve or establish cause for any individual complaint. If your concern affects the school as a whole and you have followed all of the existing processes including complaining to the governing body and local authority. Ofsted have powers to consider some complaints made in writing about schools. There is an online form for this external link Start Page – Ofsted also see Complaints about schools: guidance for parents (publishing.service.gov.uk)
Further information external links
Making a complaint about a nursery, school or college | (IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice
Making a formal complaint | (IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice
Complain about a school: Special educational needs (SEN) – GOV.UK
Complaints to schools – childlawadvice.org.uk
Complaints to Academy Schools – childlawadvice.org.uk
You can find further information about complaining about a school on the Department for Education website – external link Complain about a school: Types of complaints – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Local Authority Complaint
To make a complaint about a local authority service or team you would need to follow the North Yorkshire Council complaints procedure. This can be found on their website – external link Complaints, comments or compliments | North Yorkshire Council
The North Yorkshire Council complaints process is different for different departments.
As well as the online complaints form, accessed through the above link to the complaint’s webpage, you will find links for making complaints about children’s social care, adult social care, and others.
The local authority complaint process has two stages. If the complaint is not resolved or you receive an unsatisfactory response at stage one you can escalate it to stage two. Once stage two has been completed and if you are still not satisfied with the outcome and feel policies and procedures have not been followed you can complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Make a complaint – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (external link)
Health Complaint
To complain about a health service you can follow the advice on the NHS England website – external link NHS England » Feedback and complaints about NHS services
This website also gives information about the –
- FFT (Friends and Family Test) – external link Friends and Family Test (FFT) – NHS (www.nhs.uk),
- PALS (Patient and Advice Liaison Service) is a free, confidential and independent service that you will find in most hospitals.
You can speak with a PALS staff member, who will try to help you resolve issues informally with the hospital without the need to make a complaint. PALS can be particularly helpful if your issue is urgent and you need action immediately, such as a problem with the treatment or care you receive while in hospital.
How to find your local PALS service – external link Find patient advice and liaison services (PALS) – NHS (www.nhs.uk)
- Healthwatch – Healthwatch is an independent statutory body that helps make sure your feedback is listened to.
How to find your local Healthwatch service – external link Find your local Healthwatch | Healthwatch
These services provide information and advice to service users and their families depending upon the situation.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman website has a useful document called Top 10 tips for making a complaint – external link Top tips for making a complaint – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
Disagreement resolution
We have a separate document about dispute resolution – Disagreement Resolution
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (Also known as LGO or LGSCO)
Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) is the department of the Ombudsman Service that deals with complaints about your local authority or social care department.
They expect you to have gone through the formal complaints procedure for the service you are wishing to complain about first.
They have a useful top 10 tips for making a complaint document – external link Top tips for making a complaint – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
The LGSCO website also has a clear description of the process you need to follow – external link How to Complain – Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman
IPSEA (Independent Providers of Special Education Advice) have information about complaining to the LGSCO on their website – external link Complaining to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman | (IPSEA) Independent Provider of Special Education Advice
Disability Discrimination
To get advice about whether you have a case to make a disability discrimination claim contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service – external link Advice and Support – Equality Advisory and Support Service (equalityadvisoryservice.com)
If they agree that you do have a valid case, then they may offer you support.
IPSEA (independent Providers of Special Education Advice) have a tribunal helpline that can advise on Disability Discrimination issues. They also have a small team of specialists who may be able to offer further support – external link https://www.ipsea.org.uk/Pages/Category/service-overview