# FOSTER CARER COMPLAINT LETTER
Date: 14 October 2024
Parties: From Eleanor Price, approved foster carer, to Daniel Hughes, Complaints Manager, West Mercia Council Fostering Service
## 1. Addressee and subject
Dear Mr Hughes, I am an approved foster carer (approval reference WMF-1842). I complain about the Fostering Panel recommendation of 30 September 2024 to reduce my approval from two children to one and the service's letter of 4 October 2024 notifying me of that recommendation. This is a request for the Council's current representations and review process, not an assertion that this letter itself starts an appeal or court proceedings.
## 2. Chronology
I was approved on 12 May 2022 for up to two children aged 5 to 15. On 18 August 2024 the supervising social worker recorded that I had requested two weeks of planned respite after a difficult placement ended on 2 August. On 6 September I supplied the requested training record and health update. I was not given the panel papers or a reasonable opportunity to answer the proposal before the panel met on 30 September; the 4 October letter gave no reasons beyond 'capacity concerns'.
## 3. Basis for complaint
I ask the service to check whether its procedure under the Fostering Services Regulations 2011, its statement of purpose, and applicable allegations and review guidance was followed. I do not dispute that the authority must consider children's welfare and current fostering capacity. I do dispute that a short, planned respite period proves that I cannot safely care for two children, and I ask that the decision-maker distinguish verified evidence from an inference. Please identify the review or representations route currently available and its deadline; I will use the prescribed form or rules if one is required.
## 4. Outcome and evidence
Please pause implementation of any reduction while my representations are considered, provide the reasons and non-confidential evidence relied on, and arrange a fresh, independent review of my approval with an opportunity to respond. My requested outcome is restoration of approval for two children if the evidence supports it, or a written, evidence-based plan and review date if it does not. I enclose the 4 October letter, my 6 September training and health response, the 2 August placement-end record, and the respite request. Please acknowledge this complaint by 25 October 2024 and give a substantive response by 11 November 2024, subject to the Council's published timescales.
## 5. Status and signature
I remain willing to cooperate with safeguarding checks and to discuss support that would make a safe placement possible. Nothing here asks anyone to contact a child or another party outside the proper process. Please keep my personal information confidential and tell me how to escalate if the complaints response does not resolve the issue. Yours faithfully, Eleanor Price, 14 October 2024.