Council and democracy

The policy

1. The purpose of this policy is to:
   • clarify how the public may make a complaint or an appeal
   • define the standards the public can expect when they make a complaint
   • recognise the importance of complaints in providing feedback about council services and performance
   • set out how the council will monitor complaints, and use that information to improve services and identify training needs.
     

2. For the purposes of this policy and procedure, a complaint is:

   "an expression of dissatisfaction with the standard of service provided by the council, or with something the council or a member of its workforce may or may not have done".

   This definition is in line with those of the Local Government Ombudsman and the British Standards Institute.

   Complaints under this policy may include:

   • delays in delivering services
   • failure to follow agreed policies and procedures
   • inadequate or unsatisfactory services
   • rudeness and inappropriate or offensive behaviour
   • unfair discrimination
   • delays in or failure to make decisions which give rise to a statutory right of appeal.

   The definition does not include appeals against, or objections to, decisions of the council which should generally be pursued by way of the appropriate statutory or other appeals procedure. In these cases, customers can expect to be advised how to pursue their appeal and about any timescales which apply.

3. Complaints about the council can be received from:
   • any person or organisation receiving, or seeking to receive, a service from the council or its contractors
   • with that person's consent, any organisation, next of kin or other person acting on their behalf
   • either of the above concerning misconduct within the council ('whistleblowing' complaints). NB: whistleblowing complaints are dealt with under the council's whistleblowing procedure
   • Via a member or the MP's enquiries procedures.

   Complaints can be made in person, by phone, by email, on audiotape, in writing, in Braille and in languages other than English.
   

4. Minimum standards for handling complaints:
   1. The council expects staff and contractors to meet the following minimum standards in dealing with complaints:
      • each complaint will be recorded on receipt
      • each complaint will be acknowledged within three working days of receipt in an appropriate medium and language
      • response standards will be set and customers will be told what they can expect to happen and when
      • customers will be kept informed of progress in dealing with their complaints, and if it cannot be resolved within the agreed timescales
      • where there is more than one stage in the process for dealing with a complaint, customers will be told at the end of each stage how they may pursue their complaint further.
   2. The outcome of each complaint will be monitored. Information obtained will be fed back to the relevant service and included in periodic complaints reports to the council management team and the standards committee.
   3. Each service will have a nominated departmental complaints officer (DCO) with responsibility for ensuring that complaints are logged, tracking progress at each stage, and recording outcomes. The service department will be responsible for monitoring its contractors compliance with the council's complaints standards where these are a contract requirement. If you want to find the name of the departmental DCO, click on 'Who to contact' at the top of this page.
   4. The corporate complaints manager, based in Democratic and Legal Services, will be responsible for:
      • dealing with ombudsman cases
      • taking over conduct of stage 2 investigations where a department has delayed in dealing with it (for which an internal charge may be made) or it is not appropriate for the investigation to be carried out within the department
      • developing procedures and guidance for complaints handling
      • developing and monitoring use of a council-wide complaints database
      • giving guidance on the investigation of individual complaints, and ensuring cross-departmental complaints investigations are being co-ordinated by one of the departments involved.

   5. Guidance notes and training on best practice in complaints handling will be offered to all staff involved in dealing with complaints. Complaints handling will be included as a core module in the customer services training programme provided by the academy.

5. Complaints reports
   1. The Standards Committee will receive an annual report from the Head of Democratic and Legal Services on complaints activity in the previous year. The report may:
      • identify improvements to service delivery introduced in response to complaints
      • recommend action to minimise or avoid similar complaints in future
      • recommend procedural improvements for handling and resolving complaints
      • identify training and information needs
      • invite the committee to make relevant recommendations to cabinet or other council committees.
   2. The Council Management Team will receive a regular statistical report on the number of complaints received, outcomes achieved, and trends which can be identified.