Ofsted Complaints..

[Cassie]

I had a complaint made about my service a while ago. The issue was dealt with and no action taken. I still have a couple of questions though and wondered if anybody could help.....
Can you find out who has made a complaint to Ofsted?
and
Will a complaint go onto your report even if no action was taken?

[sarah707]

I think you need to contact Ofsted to check what they are going to do.

I hope you are ok after it all xx

[rosebud]

I believe that unfortunately it does stay on your record - which seems really unfair as it means anybody can maliciously make a complaint and it will stay with us. However Ofsted should have sent you a letter to show parents to say the complaint was investigated and not upheld.

I would give Ofsted a call so that you are clear on this and can explain it to parents if necessary.

[miffy]

I believe you should have had a letter from Ofsted informing you of their decision and what happens next.

I don't think there is any way you can find out who made the complaint (Ofsted will not tell you).

Miffy xx

[Twinklestars]

I've had 2 malicious complaints made against me lately and got a letter both times to say no action was being taken, the second said they were informing the complainant of the outcome. They stay on your record but are not on the website as it hasn't been upheld. You can request in writing under the freedom of information act to see who made it but they told me there was no guarantee they would tell you.

[Cassie]

Thankyou to everyone who replied...I did have a letter from Ofsted informing me of the outcome...It just annoys me that this complaint was totally unfounded,yet i have to inform new parents and it may be seen on my report...i think i know who made the complaint and if it is this parent she left my setting at my request,due to payment issues.It took 3 months for me to take action and i hated every minute of it. Her child had been with me every day for 2 Years and payment had always been unreliable..she had so many chances but it couldn't go on!
Ofsted obviously don't know about these issues(or aren't interested)they have to act on these complaints but where is our right to appeal????

[ajs]

If there were no actions then no it will not stay on your record and if you want to ask ofsted for an foi request then you may find out who made the complaint although there are no guarantees that it will show up anything

[mabel]

really feel for you I too had a complaint, so I know how you feel....
I got over it, but when I had my Ofsted last year she said she was going to
give me an outstanding but because of the 'complaint' even though it wasn't ever followed up by Ofted she said she could only give me a GOOD I was gutted !! it still haunts me

[marleymoo]

i feel for you all who have been through this. it's so unfair that parents can make complaints against us, even when completely unfounded or even malicious, yet we have no way of complaining about them. that's why i think ppl find this forum useful, it lets us rant to ppl who understand what we're going through. ok, so it doesn't actually get to the ppl who have upset us but it does make us feel better doesn't it guys and gals?

[Erika]

The FOI is the wrong legislation. That is for information held about a public authorities business which anyone can get access to, rather than personal information held in your file. An FOI request can be 'How many complaints were made in the first two quarters of 2011 against childminders in Norfolk? What were the categories of those complaints? How many were upheld?'. An FOI request cannot be 'Please supply all information concerning a complaint made on 12/9/11 against me as a childminder'

For personal data, you need to send a Subject Access Request pursuant to section 7 of the Data Protection Act. However the DPA prevents the disclosure of personal information where that personal information cannot be provided without disclosing information which could identify another individual where that individual has not consented, or where it is unreasonable in the cirucmstances to comply with the request without the consent of the other indivudual. So if the complainer has specifically requested that their identity be witheld, you will be unable to find out who it was that complained - but you may get other information about the complaint.

Hope this is helpful.

It will remain on your file but not 'on record' - only Ofsted and you will be aware of its existance.

[ja8estar]

I have had a complaint made against me a few years ago and ofsted said no further action would be taken
a parent had made the complaint but instead of discussing the incident she went straight to ofsted and i knew nothing until an inspector turned up and I had her child in my care when they came
I gave the parents notice and asked them not to send there child to me any more the parent had a melt down burst in to tears and said what am i going to do now i told her that the trust was broken and i would not work with family any more
as a result she pestered me for months for child care and sent birthday invites for her childs party
I felt like i was being stalked
the complaint is not on my report as it was unfounded
The whole episode shook me up and made me question everything to do with childminding and how vunerable we are as a profession
now I do everything I can to protect myself

[marleymoo]

The FOI is the wrong legislation. That is for information held about a public authorities business which anyone can get access to, rather than personal information held in your file. An FOI request can be 'How many complaints were made in the first two quarters of 2011 against childminders in Norfolk? What were the categories of those complaints? How many were upheld?'. An FOI request cannot be 'Please supply all information concerning a complaint made on 12/9/11 against me as a childminder'

For personal data, you need to send a Subject Access Request pursuant to section 7 of the Data Protection Act. However the DPA prevents the disclosure of personal information where that personal information cannot be provided without disclosing information which could identify another individual where that individual has not consented, or where it is unreasonable in the cirucmstances to comply with the request without the consent of the other indivudual. So if the complainer has specifically requested that their identity be witheld, you will be unable to find out who it was that complained - but you may get other information about the complaint.

Hope this is helpful.

It will remain on your file but not 'on record' - only Ofsted and you will be aware of its existance.

wow, thanks for that Erika, that's really good to know for the future ;)

[marleymoo]

that sounds awful, you poor thing. what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. gosh we have to learn some tough lessons don't we? character building.

[Erika]

a parent had made the complaint but instead of discussing the incident she went straight to ofsted and i knew nothing until an inspector turned up

No need. I maintain that unless there is thought to be a serious and immediate risk to a child (and there isn't if the child is still being left in the care setting) then the parent should always approach the CM first and foremost. It's the first question I ask when people are considering raising an official complaint.

I don't know about Oftsted but SCSWIS in Scotland do encourage any complainant to go back and raise the issue with the CM if they haven't already done so.


wow, thanks for that Erika, that's really good to know for the future ;)

No problem.