New feedback system for Children’s Services

27 October 2020

Children’s Services will introduce a new system to improve the management of comments, compliments and complaints, following a recent review of the service.

A new feedback officer will be appointed to ensure that comments or concerns are resolved promptly and managed through a new user-friendly, robust and fit-for-purpose process.

Alongside this, the Director of Safeguarding and Care, is working with the Children’s Commissioner to launch a new board to improve transparency in Children’s Services.

A review was carried out by an experienced feedback advisor from a different Government Department, in June 2020, to evaluate the effectiveness of the complaints and feedback process in Children’s Services.

The review concluded that improvements are required on the feedback process in Children’s Service and improvements are also required for how children and young people share their views with the department.

As a result of the review, a new feedback manager is due to be appointed, in December, to ensure that there is a robust and transparent process for managing complaints.

Children’s Minister, Senator Sam Mézec, said: "As a Government, we are committed to putting children first, listening to individuals, children and families and responding to any concerns and suggestions for improvement. I welcome this review and recommendation to appoint a feedback manager, which will ensure that we have a robust system in place to manage all types of feedback."

Director of Safeguarding and Care, Mark Owers, said: "Children, young people and their families deserve good quality services and a transparent mechanism for reporting feedback.

"It is imperative that children and families, carers, relatives and members of the public, who wish to provide feedback including making a complaint, have a simple system to do this.

"This new appointment will help to encourage and promote a culture of openness, honesty and learning from feedback, which is what we strive to achieve in the Department for Children, Young People, Education and Skills."