AI Complaints Surge Puts Pressure on Services

Parents using AI to draft complex complaints are giving West Berkshire children's services a headache.

The annual report confirms 231 complaints in 2025-2026, up from 170 in 2024-2025.

The council says this rise is partly due to greater awareness of the complaints process, clearer internal recognition of what counts as a complaint, more complex family circumstances, rising expectations and sustained demand on both children's social care and education.

The report says AI is increasingly used by parents and families to understand expected service levels and to assess whether those standards have been met. Where they believe they haven't, AI tools are helping to draft lengthy complaint letters and to clarify what families see as appropriate resolution.

"While the increased use of AI has helped raise awareness of the complaints process and empowered families to contest decisions, it has also created additional challenges," says the annual report.

"Complaints can be more demanding and time-consuming to understand, scope, and allocate to the appropriate service or reviewer.

"Many complaints now span both children's services and education, often involving multiple teams, which requires coordinated cross-service responses within statutory timescales."

The council says this adds complexity to investigations and response drafting.

Main themes were service provision, professional decision-making, missed deadlines, poor communication, policy decisions and working relationships.

There were 83 compliments recorded, showing families and partners still recognise strong practice, empathy and responsiveness.

Fifteen cases were referred to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, with six investigated and others ongoing.

The biggest improvement needed is timeliness, communication and confidence in decision-making across education and SEND. SEND complaints have increased as EHCP numbers rose from 1,198 in 2021 to 1,834 in 2025.

Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter