MAKING complaints against children's carers will be made easier under guidelines being introduced.

Following an inquiry into the alleged abuse of children in care in North Wales last February, the Waterhouse report was drafted, outlining 72 recommendations.

In response to this, Middlesbrough Borough Council set up a working group to investigate how they might affect child care in the area. As a result, an action plan has been produced, and is due to be presented at a meeting on Thursday.

A key area covered is whistleblowing, with officers recommending that reporting suspicions of abuse be made easier.

The report states: "The panel is satisfied that all necessary processes are in place to deal with complaints and that the current procedures for use by staff are effective and accessible. Care does need to be taken, however, that foster carers have the same levels of awareness of these processes.

"In examining the complaints procedure, the panel believes that the complaints form could be improved and made more user-friendly by the use of tick boxes, space on the form to indicate where it was obtained, and more space to provide details of the complaint."

The report recommends that nominees from all council service areas receive training on the authority's whistle-blowing policy, and that the document is circulated widely.

It also suggested a corporate protocol for investigating allegations of abuse, adopting the Warner process to select suitable staff and reminding councillors of their ultimate respon-sibility for children in care.