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It is recognised that children and young people rarely bother to complain themselves. So Staffordshire made available a freephone number to encourage more feedback. Graham Hopkins reports.

Some might argue that those working in complaints departments can't see the wood for the trees, and that social services complaints procedures are cumbersome and bureaucratic.

Despite good intentions in wanting to solve problems quickly, sometimes things drag on. This is particularly frustrating for young people, who tend to live their lives in the fast lane and crave the instant. Even if legal time scales are kept, a decision can take anything up to three months: a lifetime away for most young people. So why bother?

A major test for those working in complaints has been how to engage children and young people effectively.

Most councils try hard. They often have a leaflet and poster with a sharper design, funkier images and simpler language aimed at children and young people. But what appeals to a 10 year old won't necessarily attract a 12, 14 or 16 year old. Nonetheless, the reality remains that most complaints about children's services tend to be made by adults. So any idea to make things easier for young people to complain must be worth a listen.

In Staffordshire, staff looked at why children in care homes rarely complained.

"My worry was that if a complaints form had to be handed into the manager, or if children had to ask for one, that was a barrier," says Nicola Sawyer, complaints service manager. "And if the first stage was going to be dealt with in the home - how many kids are going to say 'what's the point?'"

Recognising children's circumstances, Staffordshire's complaints forms (pleasingly with prepaid envelope), ask young people: "how do you want us to get back in touch with you?" They are given options: complaints staff can contact children directly - "they nearly all have mobile phones now," smiles Sawyer - or through a carer, a social worker, or whoever they choose. "Most say they prefer us to go through the children's advice and representation service run by the NSPCC. They rarely say their social worker, which is interesting," adds Sawyer.

While this had a positive impact on children living in homes, the team were concerned that it had never received a complaint from a child in foster care. To tackle this the team installed a freephone line, using Quality Protects money. "But we pay the bill," says Sawyer. The line cost £99 plus a freephone set-up charge of £25. "We produced little cards advertising the line, which went into the welcome packs for children in care," she adds.

Sawyer was bullish about evaluating the freephone scheme: "I don't care if we never get a call, because if young people know it's there and adults know it's there, then that in itself may work as a prevention."

But there have been calls. "We have some middle-of-the-night calls and some abusive ones," she says. There were 24 calls in the year ending March 2001 of which half were made to the out-of-hours voice-mail. This year, up to end of February 2002 there have been 21 calls. The numbers may seem small but the reality is that this is 45 contacts the team might never have received otherwise.

All calls are logged and complaints staff liaise with relevant managers and the children's advice and representation service. All complainants are told on the telephone or in writing what action has taken place. Staffordshire received 402 complaints last year.

Most pleasing for Sawyer, perhaps, is that two complaints finally came from children in foster care. From little acorns...

Background

Scheme: freephone line for children and young people's complaints.

Location: Staffordshire.

Staffing: monitored by the complaints and representations team: complaints service manager, complaints co-ordinator, three investigation officers and two administrative assistants.

Clients: children and young people.

Inspiration: a recognition that children and young people were not complaining.

Cost: £355.60 each year: including annual line rental (£38.90 per quarter) and annual freephone charge (£50.00 per quarter); plus call charges at 8.5p per minute.

Resources

- For more information call Nicola Sawyer on 01785 277406.

- Something Gone Wrong? a Guide to the Complaints Procedure for Young People; freephone scheme advertising card, and the annual complaints report available free of charge from Nicola Sawyer (telephone above)