Contract to start ASAP until 28-09-26 with a possible extension.

Responsibilities:

Ensure that Children Act and corporate complaints within the Children & Education

Directorate are dealt with speedily, professionally, and in line with legislative requirements, best practice, and C&E practice standards.

Implement and maintain a restorative approach to complaints handling, following the frameworks established by the Directorate's leadership.

Work directly with service users (including, but not limited to, young people, parents and carers, family members, local residents, and foster carers), advocates, and legal representatives, in relation to individual complaints and ensure they are kept informed about the progress of their complaint.

Develop and ensure there are effective processes in place to manage complaints before the formal Children Act complaints process has commenced ('pre-stage 1 complaints') with a focus on early resolution wherever possible.

Support frontline managers to take responsibility for Stage 1 complaint investigations, providing advice, guidance and training, as needed.

Quality assure complaint investigation reports for Stage 1 and Stage 2 investigations to ensure these are of a high standard and prepare robust and comprehensive case specific adjudication reports for Stage 2 and Stage 3 Children Act complaint investigations on behalf of Heads of Service, the Director and the Group Director.

Escalating complex or high-risk decisions to Heads of Service, Assistant Directors, or Directors.

To be a primary point of contact for enquiries from the Local Government and Social Care

Ombudsman (LGSCO) including the production of detailed evidence and responses on behalf of Heads of Service, the Director and the Group Director, and monitor the implementation of any Ombudsman decisions or recommendations arising from their enquiries.

Develop strong working relationships with the Children's Rights Service to ensure that young people who wish to make a complaint are provided with advocacy support and there is a focus on early resolution where possible.

Ensure effective systems are in place to monitor complaint timescales, and escalate all delays to senior managers as appropriate.

Present regular updates on learning and trends from complaints and feedback to ensure that lessons learnt from complaint investigations and feedback are linked with wider findings from our quality assurance framework and inform service improvements.

Disclaimer: On applying for this vacancy, you agree that your personal details will be passed onto our client for their consideration of your suitability for the role. I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to notify iWork Recruitment Limited of any hirer who I do not want my details to be passed onto.

132587-06-26