Complaints about Stockton Council's children's services rise 37%
Skip to content
Watch Live
British Broadcasting Corporation
Home
News
Football 2026
Sport
Business
Technology
Health
Culture
Arts
Travel
Earth
Audio
Video
Live
Documentaries
Home
News
US & Canada
UK
UK Politics
England
N. Ireland
N. Ireland Politics
Scotland
Scotland Politics
Wales
Wales Politics
Africa
Asia
China
India
Australia
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
In Pictures
BBC InDepth
BBC Verify
Football 2026
Sport
Business
World of Business
Technology of Business
NYSE Opening Bell
Technology
Watch Documentaries
Artificial Intelligence
Intelligence Revolution
AI v the Mind
Tech Now
Health
Watch Documentaries
Culture
Watch Documentaries
Film & TV
Music
Art & Design
Style
Books
Entertainment News
Arts
Watch Documentaries
Arts in Motion
Travel
Watch Documentaries
Destinations
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australia and Pacific
Caribbean & Bermuda
Central America
Europe
Middle East
North America
South America
World’s Table
Culture & Experiences
Adventures
The SpeciaList
Earth
Watch Documentaries
Science
Natural Wonders
Climate Solutions
Sustainable Business
Green Living
Audio
Podcast Categories
Radio
Audio FAQs
Video
Watch Documentaries
BBC Maestro
Discover the World
Live
Live News
Live Sport
Documentaries
Site search
Home
News
Sport
Football 2026
Business
Technology
Health
Culture
Arts
Travel
Earth
Audio
Video
Live
Documentaries
Weather
Newsletters
Watch Live
Children's services complaints rise by 37%
3 days ago
Share
Save
Add as preferred on Google
Gareth LightfootLocal Democracy Reporting Service
BBC
Stockton councillors heard the figures reflected increased demand and complex cases
Complaints about a council's children's services department rose 37% over a 12-month period, with the authority partly attributing the increase to the ease of people using AI to draft their criticisms.
Complaints about the unit at Stockton Borough Council, on Teesside, went up from 117 in 2024-5 to 160 in 2025-6.
A meeting of the authority's children and young people select committee this week heard communication and information sharing were cited as the main problems - for example not being able to contact social workers or not having calls returned.
Information governance manager Gemma Jackson said people were now "more likely to complain" with AI "playing its part".
She said the rise reflected a trend seen "across the board" with other local authorities and "not just in children's services".
The same 12-month period saw complaints about social work teams at the council increase from 68 to 104, with criticisms about special educational needs going up from 17 to 28.
'The world we live in'
"In terms of the complexity of decisions we're making, the cases coming forward, the demand is higher, therefore the complaints are going to increase as well," Jackson told the meeting.
"We have an opportunity to put it right, make improvements and reduce the likelihood of it happening again.
"So numbers of complaints alone are not an indication that we have failings.
"How we put it right is the main emphasis here."
Councillor Ray Godwin told committee members he had heard people "complain about everything now" with AI.
"It's the world we live in, isn't it?" he said.
"You can speak into your phone and artificial intelligence will write a very good complaint in very little time.
"I don't think these figures are as damning as what you first see or imagine, bearing in mind how many people are involved in the system, the pressures the systems are under and the work the councils do to try and address some of those pressures."
Children's services director Majella McCarthy said every complaint received was "taken seriously and investigated".
Acknowledging some areas of the department were "really pressured", she told councillors there was now "a much more stable workforce" with the number of agency workers being used having "significantly reduced".
Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Related internet links
Stockton Borough Council
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Related
'Five-year-old me would be happy I'm a firefighter'
Man arrested from Spain flight admits part in riot
Dangerous dog injuries 'double in five years'
More from the BBC
4 Jul 2026
Relief as government stays out of 179-homes plan
Billingham councillors Marcus Vickers and David Reynard call it a "major victory" for residents.
4 Jul 2026
19 Jun 2026
Can shiny slides and timber towers rebuild a rundown town?
Stockton Waterfront urban park rises in place of half the high street it is attempting to save.
19 Jun 2026
10 Jun 2026
Charity helps recover £1m for fraud victims
Financial Fraud Advocates celebrate the milestone as Cleveland's PCC calls for more help nationally.
10 Jun 2026
10 Jun 2026
Gaming arcade approved for old legal office
Arcade Time Machine would be a "family-friendly" centre of retro and modern games, planners say.
10 Jun 2026
10 Jun 2026
Taxi drivers lose licences over arrests - report
Arrests for rape, sexual assault, firearms and drugs conspiracy led to taxi drivers losing licences.
10 Jun 2026
British Broadcasting Corporation
Home
News
Football 2026
Business
Technology
Health
Culture
Arts
Travel
Earth
Sport
Audio
Video
Live
Documentaries
Weather
BBC Shop
BritBox
BBC in other languages
The BBC is in multiple languagesRead the BBC In your own language
BBC News Brasil
BBC News Mundo (Spanish)
BBC News မြန်မာ (Burmese)
BBC News 中文 (Chinese)
BBC News Indonesia
BBC News 코리아 (Korean)
BBC News ไทย (Thai)
BBC News Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
BBC News Azərbaycanca (Azeri)
BBC News Magyarul (Hungarian)
BBC News Кыргыз Кызматы (Kyrgyz)
BBC News Polska (Polish)
BBC News România (Romanian)
BBC News Русская служба (Russian)
BBC News na srpskom (Serbian)
BBC News Україна (Ukrainian)
BBC News O'zbek (Uzbek)
BBC News عربي (Arabic)
BBC News فارسی (Persian)
BBC News Türkçe (Turkish)
BBC News বাংলা (Bengali)
BBC News دری (Dari)
BBC News ગુજરાતી (Gujarati)
BBC News हिन्दी (Hindi)
BBC News मराठी (Marathi)
BBC News नेपाली (Nepali)
BBC News සිංහල (Sinhala)
BBC News پښتو (Pashto)
BBC News ਪੰਜਾਬੀ (Punjabi)
BBC News Afaan Oromoo
BBC News አማርኛ (Amharic)
BBC News Afrique (French)
BBC News Hausa
BBC News Gaelic NAIDHEACHDAN
BBC News Ìgbò
BBC News Japanese 日本語
BBC News Gahuza
BBC News Pidgin
BBC News Somali
BBC News Swahili
BBC News தமிழ் (Tamil)
BBC News తెలుగు (Telugu)
BBC News ትግርኛ (Tigrinya)
BBC News اردو (Urdu)
BBC News Yorùbá
BBC News World Service
Follow BBC on:
Terms of Use
Subscription Terms
About the BBC
Privacy Policy
Cookies
Accessibility Help
Contact the BBC
Advertise with us
Do not share or sell my info
BBC.com Help & FAQs
Content Index
Set Preferred Source
Copyright 2026 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.