Thank you for your enquiry as to the activity being undertaken in respect of Mr Hook's concerns.

Further to my letter to you dated 9th September 2011, we have written to Mr. Hook and responded to his concerns which were clarified during a meeting with Adrian Greenhead (Head of Service), and George Trevithick (Complaints Manager).

This meeting identified the following areas upon which agreement was made for Children's Services to respond:

• The length of time to respond to complaints has been out of timescales;
• That assessments (initial and core), were submitted out of timescales;
• That the content of the assessments was written in a prejudicial fashion;
• That Mr Hook was not effectively involved during the process of assessment;
• That the overall impact of the above concerns has been negative.

We have now responded to each of these points in a letter to Mr Hook. Within our response, and further to his letter dated 2nd October2011, we have also clarified that a stage 2 investigation of his concerns has been instigated, and he shall be contacted shortly by the independent investigator.

I hope this provides you with sufficient update in respect of the actions we have taken in response to the concerns of your constituent, but should you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Ronald Taylor
Director of Children's Services