Complaints - procedure
If you are not happy with something we have or haven't done, we
want to hear from you. Your complaint will be treated
seriously and in confidence.
Most complaints are dealt with under this procedure,
however some types of complaints need to be looked at under
different procedures. Details of these types
of complaints can be found at the end of this
page.
If you would like advice on this procedure, please contact
the People's Champion Team.
What happens when we receive your complaint?
Stage 1
When you first contact us to tell us about your complaint, you
can expect:
- an immediate response, or if we need more time
- a full response within 10 working days
Not happy with our response?
Stage 2
You can ask for your complaint to be looked into again by the
Service concerned. This is a stage 2 investigation and you can
expect:
- an acknowledgement within 5 working days, and
- a full response to your complaint within a further 15 working
days
Stage 3
If you are still not happy with our response, you can appeal to
the People's Champion Team for an independent review. This is
a stage 3 review and you can expect:
- an acknowledgement of your appeal within 5 working days,
and
- a full response within a further 20 working days
This is the third and final stage of our complaints process.
Letting us know
If you are not happy with our response at stage one or two,
please let us know within 28 days so that we can look into your
complaint again.
What to do if you are still not satisfied
If you are still not happy with the way we handled
your complaint after it has been looked into at all three
stages, you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman
(LGO).
Local
Government Ombudsman
What if we need more time to investigate?
Occasionally, we may need more time to investigate your
complaint. If this is the case, we will let you know how the
investigation is going, how much longer we think we will need, and
the reasons for this.
How did we do?
After your complaint has been looked into, we will ask you to
fill in a form to let us know how easy it was to use our
complaints procedure, and your comments on how well we dealt
with your complaint.
Anonymous complaints
Although we cannot let you know the outcome of your complaint if
we do not have your contact details, you can make a
complaint anonymously. Your complaint
will be recorded and investigated by the Service
concerned.
Services not covered by this procedure
These include complaints about:
- A school
- Social care services
- Council housing
- Recruitment
- Councillors
If your complaint is not covered by this procedure, we will let
you know - and make sure you get to speak to the right people.