licity materials about making a complaint and information about children’s rights/advocacy services, appropriate to the ages of children and young people, should be given to all young people when they are first assessed as being in need and again when they become looked after. For children looked after, this should be recorded in the child’s care plan and checked at every review by the Independent Reviewing Officer. Complaints publicity materials should include information about advocacy and children’s rights services and be kept under regular review. Age-appropriate publicity materials should be accessible for children and young people with disabilities. 2.22 Local authorities should have a programme of regularly updating information and publicity on advocacy services to staff and foster carers to ensure that new staff and carers are able to inform children and young people properly of the support they can access. 14 3. Advocates and the Complaints Procedure INTRODUCTION 3.1 Children’s participation in decision-making about their own lives is a key principle of Every Child Matters and many local authorities have taken forward initiatives to ensure independent advocacy for children making a complaint. This guidance builds on these developments. 3.2 Local authorities are required to appoint an officer who has overarching responsibility for co-ordinating all aspects of the complaints and representations system. However, the specific roles, duties and tasks may be performed or delegated to other staff in the organisation, for example, children’s complaints officers or equivalent officers. Following the recommendations of the Waterhouse report, Lost In Care, and the Utting report, People Like Us, some local authorities have appointed children’s complaints officers who co-or