Complaints Investigations

Suffolk County Council are conducting Pre Market Engagement prior to the procurement of the services of Complaints Investigators. Suffolk County Council has statutory responsibilities around the appropriate investigation of complaints.

This notice outlines the approach to procurement of those services. Suffolk County Council runs three complaint processes.

Statutory children's social care procedures, statutory adult social care procedures and its own Corporate Complaints Policy. These processes have clear steps that must be followed and timescales to adhere to.

As part of these processes, it is often mandatory that a person external to the council undertakes an investigate. As part of the statutory children's social care procedures, a complainant has the right to a Review Panel (Stage 3).

Complaint Review Panels are made up of 3 people who have experience in social care or related professions but who are independent from the Council. Independent investigators and independent people fulfil the independent element of Local Authority complaints investigated under statutory children's social care procedures (The Children Act 1989 Representations Procedure (England) Regulations 2006) and under statutory adult social care procedures (The Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service Complaints (England) Regulations 2009).

Suffolk County Council may on occasions also decide to investigate non-statutory matters of complaint at Stage 2 of its Corporate Complaint policy. Whilst it is not obliged to supply somebody independent of the local authority for such investigations, it can be a useful step in complaint resolution and provide the Council with an independent view.

The application and management of these processes and procedures is overseen by the councils Customer Rights Service. In order to reduce the risk of non-compliance with the relevant processes and procedures, the council are seeking a trusted supplier who can deliver independent people for the aforementioned processes.

Such services exist nationally and are used by numerous local authorities. The council may look to contract with one or more company, allowing it to align subject specific work to the correct company and limit its risk around supplier failure. The scope of this procurement may change on findings from the Premarket Engagement.