KCC has 89 education complaints

Kent County Council had the highest number of complaints about education and children’s services of any authority in the country, a report by a council watchdog has revealed.

The Local Government Ombudsman says the council had 89 complaints about children’s services in 2016-2017 – 21 fewer than the previous year.

KCC also had the second highest number of complaints concerning adult care services – 61, down one from 62 the year before – with only Essex recording more, at 64.

Overall, the ombudsman had 183 complaints about KCC services of which 42 were upheld following detailed investigations and 25 were not.

A total of 46 complaints were closed after initial inquiries and 61 were resolved locally.

The ombudsman intervened in 34 cases to remedy the complaint – slightly higher than the previous year.

It issued only one formal public report against KCC over a complaint concerning a child’s care.

It found the council had failed to take into account a parent’s need to work when assessing the child’s needs and it was told to pay £1,000 compensation.

KCC said it investigated all complaints, but made the point that as one of the largest local authorities, which has some services such as grammar schools that others do not, it was always likely to be near the top of such tables.