Finding the right words when writing to official bodies can be difficult. We’ve created a series of template letters to make it less daunting for you write to your local council or health body if you need to ask for information or make a complaint.
Finding the right words when writing to official bodies can be difficult. We’ve created a series of template letters to make it less daunting for you write to your local council or health body if you need to ask for information or make a complaint.
There are different letter templates for England, Wales and Scotland and they cover a numbers of topics. They aim to make your letters more effective.
You can use this letter to make a complaint about a council or health body, for example if you’re unhappy with the amount of support available to your family or the way decisions have been made.
If the authorities can’t agree on who’s responsible for helping your family, don’t try and work it out yourself – use our template letter to complain about them both for failing to work together.
Public bodies shouldn’t adopt rigid policies which prevent them from exercising their powers in individual cases (the legal term for this is ‘fettering discretion’). Use this letter to ask the council to confirm in writing what their policy is.
Use this letter if you need to chase a public body for its response to previous correspondence.
If you think an official has told you something that’s incorrect or inappropriate, you can use this letter to ask the council/health body to confirm whether the comment is true or not.
Use this letter to ask for an assessment of your child’s needs or your needs as a carer if you are in Scotland.
If your (or your child’s) needs have been assessed but you’ve been waiting a long time for support, the council might say that it needs to do a new assessment before it can progress your case. If you’re worried that agreeing to a new assessment will cause delay, but refusing will label you as ‘uncooperative’, use this letter to get your concerns on the record.
Use this letter if the council tells you that it doesn’t have the resources to provide the educational support that your child needs.
Use this letter to ask the council to assess your child’s additional support needs.
Use this letter to ask the council to consider whether or not your child needs a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP).
You can use this letter to ask the council to review your child’s existing Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP).
Use this letter if the council/health body has agreed that you need help, but says that it can’t afford to provide support.
Use this letter to complain if you’re still waiting for the council/health body to find the type of support that will meet your family’s needs.
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