Free early years and childcare appeals and complaints

This appeals and complaints procedure relates to the government’s free early education and childcare entitlements for children from 9 months-old.

Parents' complaints and appeals

If you're unable to find an early education and childcare place email KentCFIS@theeducationpeople.org . We can provide a brokerage service to support you to find a place.

After this, if a place still cannot be found and you want to complain about this, complete our online form.

Changing your child's setting

If, because of evidenced exceptional circumstances (for example an emergency or unavoidable house move), you want to change your child’s setting after the start of term:

contact our childcare advice line. We will tell you if you have grounds to make an appeal or not. If you appeal, you will be asked for further information and evidence to back up your appeal. A decision to uphold or not uphold an appeal is usually made within 20 working days, unless more time is needed to collect further information (in which case the 20 working days will start once we have all the information needed). We will keep you updated if this is the case.
If your appeal is not upheld, you can submit a complaint to us. Fill in our online form.

Free early education and childcare place delivery

If you want to complain about the way your child's free early education and childcare place is being delivered you must approach your childcare provider, first by informal discussion and then if necessary through the provider’s formal complaints procedure.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of making a complaint to the provider, contact our childcare advice line for information and advice on the appropriate organisation to hear your complaint. This could be us or Ofsted.

If your complaint needs to be made to us, fill in our online form. We will respond within 20 working days. However, complex complaints may mean we need more time to investigate. If there are any delays, we will let you know.

If you are not satisfied with the way the complaint has been dealt with by us, contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Complaints to the Ombudsman are normally only considered when the local complaints procedures have been exhausted.

Provider complaints

If you are a childcare provider with a complaint relating to the delivery of the free early education and childcare entitlement(s):

Step 1

Complete our online form. We will aim to sort out the problem as quickly as possible, and within 20 working days. Depending on the complexity of the complaint, this could take longer in which case we will keep you up to date.

Step 2

If you remain dissatisfied, escalate your complaint by following the steps outlined in your Stage 1 complaint response letter.