This document can be made available in other languages and formats. For more information please contact infocompliance@torbay.gov.uk.

Introduction

We understand that there will be times when our customers do not consider they have received the service they would expect from the Council. It is important that where we have not reached those expectations, we have a robust and transparent process in place for dealing with any complaints we receive.

This document sets out the way in which we will consider complaints from our customers and how they will be managed.

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Our objectives

We want our customers to be confident that:

  • we have a robust and transparent complaint procedure in place
  • their concerns will be heard and taken seriously
  • we will be accountable and willing to put things right when we get them wrong
  • we will always consider the customer service standards when dealing with complaints
  • the outcomes of complaints will provide departments with appropriate recommendations to help us learn and drive improvement
  • complaints will be appropriately monitored by a central team and raised with senior officers where necessary

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Our commitment

We will:

  • assess all complaints in accordance with this policy
  • allocate complaints to the appropriate process promptly
  • monitor complaints centrally through the Information Governance Team to ensure compliance with our complaint procedure
  • process complaints through a central system to enable effective monitoring of cases
  • investigate complaints impartially and with integrity
  • respond to complaints within 20 working days, or 30 working days where an extension is required
  • escalate any significant delays to the appropriate Divisional Director or Director and if necessary to the Chief Executive for management intervention
  • provide monitoring reports to senior management and appropriate committees
  • ensure learning from complaints is used to help us improve or change our services where necessary

We will keep our customers:

  • informed about the progress of their complaint
  • informed as to the conclusion of the complaint by providing a clear and concise investigation report
  • informed of how to escalate a complaint if they remain unhappy

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What is a complaint

We define a complaint as a person letting us know that they are unhappy with:

  • the quality and/or standard of service provided
  • the quality of information and/or advice given
  • the Council’s failure to comply with procedures, rules, statutory obligation or published service standards.

However, not all complaints will fall within the scope of this complaint procedure.

At the Council, we operate a one stage complaint procedure. This means that complaints are investigated by either an officer within the Information Governance Team or a Senior Officer within the relevant department. If the customer remains dissatisfied following the outcome of their complaint, they can escalate the matter to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

It is therefore important that when a complaint is received, it is assessed to determine whether it falls within the scope of the complaint procedure or whether it would be best dealt with under a different process.

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Issues which should be raised using online reporting forms

The Council has a number of online reporting forms which can be used to notify us of issues with our services such as missed collections, potholes, grass cutting, overgrown verges, litter, anti-social behaviour, unauthorised development, faulty street lamps etc. There are also forms available to notify us of other issues such as unauthorised encampments. These forms are available on the internet and provide a means of capturing all the necessary information a department needs to assess the issue being raised.

There are many ways to find information on our website, the easiest being the search function.

Where we receive a complaint or enquiry and there is an online form which should be used, we will ask you to complete the relevant online form.

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Comments

We will not consider general comments about the Council or about Torbay where these are not specific to the customer raising the query or where it is clear there is no personal injustice to the customer.  If customers have any general comments or feedback about our services, they can use the forms on the contact us page.

Any general enquiries received by the Information Governance Team will be forwarded to the relevant departments as service enquiries for a response.

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Service enquiries or service requests

Where a complaint is received by the Information Governance Team or the Chief Executive, and the department have not yet had an opportunity to respond, these will be logged and processed as service enquiries or requests.  It will be the responsibility of the department to ensure a response is sent to the customer.

Any general enquiries received by the Information Governance Team will also be classed as service enquiries.

We would expect departments to provide a response to a service enquiry within 10 working days. Where this is not possible, departments are required to communicate the reason for the delay to the customer.

If a customer is dissatisfied with a response they receive to a service enquiry, they can escalate their case to a formal complaint.

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MP or Member enquiries

Local ward councillors and MPs are able to complete the online reporting forms to report issues on behalf of their constituents.  Where this is not possible, enquiries can be raised by them directly to the Information Governance Team.  It is the responsibility of the MP or ward councillor to pass on any response they have received to the customer.

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Complaints which need to follow a different process

Where a complaint is received about a service that has its own appeals process such as planning appeals; parking tickets; fixed penalty notices; housing benefit decisions, Devon Home Choice banding, these will not be considered under the Complaints Procedure. This is because there is already a process in place which needs to be followed to ensure issues are appropriately dealt with either through a legal process, the court or a department’s internal procedures.

You should be provided with details of how to make any representations or appeals within the documents, notices, decisions or correspondence you receive.

Where we consider a complaint should follow an alternative process, we will notify you as quickly as possible and advise you who to contact.

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Complaints about Children’s Social Care

We will not deal with complaints under the complaint procedure where the complaint relates to services which would fall within the scope of The Children Act 1989.

Children’s social care complaints are dealt with under a separate statutory complaint procedure. Please visit the complain about Children's Social Care page for more information and details on how you can make a complaint.

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Complaints about Adult Social Care

We will not deal with complaints under the complaint procedure where the complaint relates to the provision of Adult Social Care provided on behalf of the Council by Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust.

Any complaints relating to services they provide need to be sent directly to them for consideration. Visit their Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) page for more details.

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Complaints about Schools or other Ofsted registered providers

We can investigate complaints about the school admission appeals process, exclusions from school and Special Educational Needs however, we do not have a duty to investigate complaints about the schools themselves.

All schools are required to have a complaints policy. You should ask the school for a copy of their policy so that you know exactly how they will deal with them and who you should contact. This will normally involve raising your concerns with the Headteacher followed by a complaint to the school governors if you remain unhappy.

If you have been unable to resolve your complaint and you think your school is acting 'unreasonably' you can write to the Secretary of State for Education. Complaints to the Secretary of State are handled by the government’s Department for Education (DfE).

In some circumstances, where complaints have been escalated to the DfE, or to Ofsted, they may refer the complaint to the Council for action, or oversight.  Where this is the case, the Council will contact the school and ask them to consider the issues being raised and provide a response.  The school’s response will be managed under their own procedures.

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Complaints about Councillors

Complaints regarding any Councillors elected to represent Torbay Council or Brixham Town Council, or any Independent Co-opted Member do not fall within the scope of the complaint procedure.  This is because any complaints about the conduct or activities of a Councillor need to be considered by the Council’s Monitoring Officer in accordance with the Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct.

These types of complaints must be made in writing. Visit the behaviour, interests and standards page for more information and to download a form.

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Complaints about partner organisations or third-party contractors

We work with a number of partner organisations and third-party contractors to help us deliver our services. These include but are not limited to:

Although we recognise that these partner organisations and third-party contractors are delivering services on behalf of the Council or providing services to assist our customers, they have their own procedures in place for dealing with complaints about the services they provide.

It is important that partner organisations and third-party contractors are given the opportunity to respond to complaints about their services in the first instance.

If the Information Governance Team receives a complaint that falls within this category, we will notify you as quickly as possible who you need to contact, or, with your consent, will pass your complaint to the relevant organisation / third-party for consideration.

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If you remain dissatisfied following a response

Once your complaint has been considered by the relevant partner organisation or third party contractor, should you remain dissatisfied, you can raise your concerns with the Council for consideration. 

We will assess whether the complaint falls within our complaint procedure or whether it needs to be considered through an alternative process such as the Court or the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Where a complaint does fall within the Council’s complaint procedure, we will process it accordingly.

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Escalating your complaint to the Council

You should contact the Information Governance Team within 30 working days of the date of the partnership organisation or third party contractor’s last response to determine whether the Council will consider the issues raised.

Complaints about Torbay and South Devon Heath Care Trust

Torbay and South Devon Health Care Trust deliver Adult Social Care on behalf of the Council and any complaints need to follow their procedures. The Trust will provide you with escalation advice if you remain dissatisfied with a response you receive.  This will normally be escalation to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Complaints about SWISCo

Torbay Council currently manages complaints relating to services provided by SWISCo in accordance with the Council’s complaints procedure and therefore any complaints will be managed through the Information Governance Team.

Complaints about TDA

Complaints about services provided by the Torbay Development Agency (TDA) on behalf of Torbay Council will be considered under this Complaints Policy.

Complaints about services provided by the TDA under their own business portfolio will be considered by the TDA and not by the Council. Read the TDA complaints procedure.

Complaints about TorVista Homes

Torvista Homes has its own complaints procedure which is overseen by the Torbay Development Agency (TDA).  The Council is not responsible for any complaints relating to the management of Torvista Homes or its tenants. As a registered social landlord, Torvista is regulated by the Housing Ombudsman.

Registered social landlords and housing providers

Registered social landlords, such as Sanctuary Housing or Westward Housing have their own complaints procedures for tenants and therefore complaints must be considered by them and follow their own procedures.  Should tenants remain unhappy with a provider’s response, they should escalate their complaint to the Housing Ombudsman.  

If the Council’s Housing Standards team or Anti-Social Behaviour team have been involved in any way in a matter relating to your housing, any complaints about these services provided by the Council will be considered under this policy.

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Complaints about partnerships/outside bodies

The Council often supports and facilitates local partnership boards which include for example the Community Safety Partnership Board, Torbay Community Development Trust however, complaints about these partnerships do not fall within the scope of the Council’s complaints procedure. Any representations must be made to the Chair of the relevant partnership. 

If the complaint issues being raised relate to the conduct of a Council employee on any boards, which breaches the Council’s Constitution, these may be considered through the Council’s own HR Policies.

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Complaints which have arisen as a result of media coverage

There are some circumstances where a customer may read an article in the media or read a post on social media about the Council which causes them to feel upset or angry.  We acknowledge that our customers should be able to express their disagreement or upset and the Council will issue a standard response to customer enquiries but we will not consider these issues under our complaints procedure.

Any comments received which are considered to be inappropriate, abusive, aggressive or threatening will not be responded to. 

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Complaints which have already been considered by the Council

We will not respond to complaints raised regarding an issue which has already been considered through the Council’s complaints procedure. Any dissatisfaction with the way in which a complaint has previously been handled should be escalated to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

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Complaints which have already been considered by a regulatory body

Where a complaint has previously been considered by a regulatory body e.g. the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman or the Information Commissioner’s Office and they have made a formal decision, unless the Council is provided with new evidence to justify undertaking a new investigation, the complaint will be rejected.

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Complaints made on behalf of another individual

The Council will accept complaints made by a customer on behalf of a third party where we are provided with appropriate written consent from the third party for them to act as a representative, for example a signed letter of consent.  Where consent is not provided, the complaint will be rejected.

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Complaints made anonymously or where the customer refuses to provide their full name and address

In order for a complaint to be valid, we need the name and address of the customer making the complaint. The address can either be a postal address or an email address. Refusal to provide this information will result in the complaint being rejected.

If a customer believes that providing personal information would not be appropriate, the customer should contact the Information Governance Team.  The Information Governance Team, in consultation with the appropriate senior manager, will consider the customer’s reasons and decide whether, on balance, it is reasonable for the Council to continue to investigate the complaint with some or all of the customer’s personal details being withheld.

Where anonymous complaints are raised and we do not have the details of the complainant, we may still pass the issues to the department for consideration where there is enough information to enable the department to determine whether action is required.

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Complaints relating to issues over 12 months old

We will not consider a complaint if the customer waits more than 12 months after knowing about an issue to raise their concerns.

We may consider a complaint relating to an issue over 12 months old. This would only be if either of the following applies:

  • something has happened that has changed the circumstances
  • it would not have been reasonable to make the complaint earlier

In these cases, we will exercise discretion. We may accept this type of complaint if we are able to undertake a full and thorough investigation. This would be to determine if there is anything we need to do to put things right. If we decide not to accept your complaint, we will explain why.

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Complaints which will place a disproportionate burden on the Council to investigate

When a complaint is received, we will undertake an initial assessment. The assessment will consider all the circumstances of the case and identify whether there are sufficient grounds to warrant an investigation under the complaint procedure or whether it is deemed an investigation would place a disproportionate burden on the Council.

This may be the case where a complaint is minor, or where there is no evidence of any significant injustice to the customer, and it is evident that to undertake an investigation would cause an unnecessary diversion of resources or stop a department from providing their service to other customers.

This would also be the case where a customer’s contact with the Council is considered to be unreasonably persistent as defined within the Council’s Communications Standards Policy, or where the outcome being sought is not achievable.

Where it is deemed a complaint investigation would place a disproportionate burden on the Council the complaint will be rejected.

Examples of complaints of this nature would be “Please can you stop the seagulls from stealing food from tourists” or “My bins have not been emptied today and I would like a refund on my Council Tax”.  Another example would be where the Council receive a number of complaints from different individuals about the same matter.

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Complaints about planning applications

Where a member of the public (who is not the applicant) has a complaint about a planning application that has not yet been determined, this will not be considered under this policy.  In these cases, the customer has the right to make a representation against the application via the planning process.  

We will also not consider a complaint about the refusal of a planning permission under the complaint procedure, this is because there is an alternative process that can be followed through the Planning Inspectorate.

Where a complaint is made about an approved application, we will not consider a complaint where it is clear the application has been considered through the appropriate planning process or where the complaint relates to the decision made at Planning Committee.

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Complaints where there is an alternative appeals mechanism available

Where a customer has, or had, a right to appeal against a decision, or take legal action the Council will not consider the decision made under the complaint procedure, this is because the complaint procedure is not the appropriate mechanism to review the decision.

The complaint procedure will only look at whether, in making a decision, the officer has followed relevant legislation, guidelines and policies.

Examples of where this may be the case include but are not limited to:

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Complaints about decisions where services cannot be provided due to funding or budget limitations

Where the Council has already taken a decision not to provide a service due to budget limitations and this has been approved through the proper budget setting process, including in-year amendments made through Delegated Powers the Council will not consider a complaint under this procedure.

We will also not consider complaints relating to issues where we cannot provide the customer with the outcome they are requesting, due to budget limitations and where the complaint does not cause a personal injustice to the customer.

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Complaints that relate to Court or tribunal action

Matters that concern the commencement or conduct of civil court action or other tribunal proceedings and/or matters which have already been before a court or tribunal will not be dealt with under the complaint procedure.  We will also not consider complaints where the issues raised are not the responsibility of the Council and the customer needs to consider taking their own civil action.

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Complaints relating to Legal or Professional opinion

The complaints procedure will not consider complaints relating to the legal or professional opinion of a Council officer. 

The complaint procedure will only look at whether, in making a decision, an officer has followed relevant legislation, guidelines and policies, it will not call into question an officer’s professional opinion, or the opinion provided by a legal professional.

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Insurance Claims

We will not consider complaints made by a customer relating to any issues that would fall within the jurisdiction of the Council’s Insurance or Claims department for example, a request for the Council to repair a damaged car due to a pothole or a request for compensation for a trip on the highway.

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Personnel matters

We will not accept complaints from members of staff where the issues should be dealt with through an internal HR process.

We will also not accept complaints about applications for employment.

Any complaints received of this nature will be passed to HR.

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Complaints about staff

Complaints received from customers about members of staff will be assessed to determine whether they fall within the scope of the complaint procedure. 

Where we are provided with clear evidence that a member of staff is in breach of the Employee Code of Conduct, this will be passed to HR for them to undertake an investigation in accordance with the appropriate internal procedure.  This will not however be logged as a complaint under the complaint procedure. In these cases, we will not be able to provide the customer with any details of the investigation or the outcome.

Where it is not clear whether there is reason to pass the concerns to HR, this will be logged as a complaint for investigation by the appropriate department and the customer will be updated accordingly.  We will not however be able to disclose any information to the customer about any subsequent HR investigations or findings.

Where complaints are made relating to officers who have been appointed into a specific role for example the Monitoring Officer or the Chief Executive, these would not fall within the scope of the complaint procedure. There are specific procedures which need to be followed under the Constitution for these types of complaints.

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Council policy or decisions made through committees

The Council will not consider any complaints raised about the conduct of a committee under this complaint procedure. This is because the complaint procedure does not have jurisdiction over elected members or the Governance arrangements.  Any concerns in relation to these matters should be raised in writing to Governance Support, Torbay Council, Town Hall, Torquay, TQ1 3DR or governance.support@torbay.gov.uk

Disagreement with a Council policy that has been implemented or a Council decision that has been made in accordance with the Council’s Constitution will not be considered through the complaint procedure. Representations can either be made to the local Councillor, the relevant committee meeting or application to the Courts to judicially review the Council’s decision.

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Complaints about other organisations

The Council’s complaints procedure does not cover complaints which relate to the actions of other organisations or companies, where the service provided, or the activity undertaken was not on behalf of the Council.

An example of a complaint of this nature would be “My wall has been damaged by a utility company when they were digging up the pavement”, or “A delivery driver keeps parking across by driveway when he is delivering groceries”.

These types of complaints would need to be raised with the appropriate company.

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Complaints outside of the Council’s jurisdiction

We will not deal with issues raised under our complaint procedure which are considered to be outside of our jurisdiction and where we do not have any authority to provide the outcome being requested.

An example of a complaint of this nature would be “cars keep going down the pedestrianised stretch of road outside my house when they shouldn’t be”. In this example this would be a moving traffic offence and would be for the Police to deal with.  This would also be the same for people blocking driveways or parking causing an obstruction where there are no traffic regulation orders in place e.g. double-yellow lines.

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Unreasonably Persistent Complaints

We would consider a customer to be unreasonably persistent if:

  • their issue has already been considered under the complaint procedure or through a regulator but the customer continues to contact the Council raising the same issue because they do not accept the answer they have been given
  • they have been provided with the appropriate escalation advice but refuse to follow the process and continue to raise the same issue
  • they raise the same issues but under a different name or are asking others to raise the issues for them when they themselves have already received a response

In these cases, we will not accept any further complaints from the customer and will consider restricting their contact in accordance with the Council’s Communication Standards Policy.

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Unacceptable Behaviour

We do not expect our staff to be subjected to any form of unacceptable or unreasonable behaviour from our customers.

Our staff will, when dealing with a complaint treat the customer with respect and we expect the same in return.

If a customer is deemed to be displaying any form of unacceptable behaviour as detailed within the Council’s Communication Standards policy during the course of a complaint investigation, they will be given a warning about their conduct and if it does not stop, may have their complaint rejected and any investigation stopped.

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Monitoring Complaints

A quarterly report will be produced and shared with the relevant committee. This report will set out the number of complaints received, and the number dealt with on time.

Where departments do not meet the requirements set out in this policy, the appropriate Director / Divisional Director will be notified, and this may be escalated to the Chief Executive.

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Complaints Procedure

Making a complaint

A complaint can be made:

In order for a complaint to be valid we must be provided with:

  • The name of the complainant
  • A way of contacting the complainant either by post or email.

The Council does not accept anonymous complaints.

If a customer believes that providing personal information would not be appropriate, the customer should contact the Information Governance Team.  The Information Governance Team, in consultation with the appropriate senior manager, will consider the customer’s reasons and decide whether, on balance, it is reasonable for the Council to continue to investigate the complaint with some or all of the customer’s personal details being withheld.

For any complaints which are received by telephone, the complaint will not be progressed until the issues have been confirmed in writing with the customer.

To help us deal with a complaint effectively the customer needs to tell us:

  • What the problem is
  • How and when it occurred
  • How it has affected them
  • What they would like us to do to put things right.

The Information Governance Team is responsible for ensuring complaints are managed in accordance with this procedure and any departments receiving complaints directly which may fall within the scope of this procedure will pass them to the Information Governance Team for assessment.

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Complaints received via the Chief Executive’s Office

Although the Chief Executive would like to be able to personally respond to all enquiries received about our services, this is not practicable.  The Chief Executive, although responsible for the overall running of the Council, does not have direct knowledge of all customers known to service areas or their individual cases.

Where an enquiry or complaint is received by the Chief Executive, it will be passed to the Information Governance Team to log as either a service enquiry or a complaint.

The Information Governance Team will log, acknowledge and assign the case appropriately and ensure the Chief Executive receives a copy of any response sent. 

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Timescales

We will aim to respond to complaints within 20 working days.  Days where the Council Offices are closed, over and above Bank Holidays, will not be considered as working days for the purpose of this procedure, for example closure between Christmas and New Year.

The timescale for a response can be extended to 30 working days in the following circumstances:

  • The complaint is deemed complex for example:
    • there are multiple issues which require information from multiple service areas
    • the issues being raised require consideration of complex legislation
    • the issues being raised require guidance from legal services
    • there are a significant number of issues being raised
  • The investigation requires input from an officer that is absent or unavailable.
  • The investigation requires input from an officer or department who has been asked to prioritise other workstreams within their service.

We will notify customers if we are extending the response timescale and the reason why.

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How we will deal with a complaint

Initial assessment stage

It is important that we assess any complaints received to ensure they are dealt with under the correct process.  The Information Governance Team will consider whether there are sufficient grounds for the complaint to be investigated or whether there are any factors which mean we will not consider it under the complaint procedure.

There are a number of additional factors, as well as those already mentioned within this document, which will be considered when assessing whether a complaint will be investigated under the complaint procedure. These can be found under Appendix 1 of this document.

The Information Governance Team will:

  • acknowledge receipt of any complaint received within 3 working days either confirming which process the enquiry will be handled under or advising that a further update will be received once the assessment has been completed
  • confirm within 7 working days the outcome of the assessment
  • allocate the case to an appropriate officer for investigation.

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Investigation stage

Complaints will be investigated by a Complaint Investigator within the Information Governance Team or, where the complaint relates the services listed below, investigated by a senior officer within the relevant department:

  • Revenue and Benefits
  • Corporate Dept
  • Fraud
  • Planning

This is to ensure issues relating to the above services, are investigated by an officer with the appropriate specialist knowledge of the legislation and procedures.

  • The Information Governance Team will confirm with the customer the complaint issues to be investigated and the outcome sought and provide the date they can expect a response.
  • The Investigating Officer will then commence an investigation.
  • The investigation will consider relevant evidence including files, copies of correspondence, the views of key officers and consider any relevant legislation, policies, and guidance available.
  • In some cases, the Investigating Officer may contact the customer to discuss the issues raised.
  • The Investigating Officer will produce a report setting out their draft findings.
  • Where the investigation has been undertaken by the department, the draft findings will be sent to the Information Governance Team to review.
  • All draft investigation reports will also be reviewed by a senior officer within the Information Governance Team irrespective of who has undertaken the investigation to ensure the issues have been appropriately considered and any outcomes and recommendations made are appropriate.

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Response stage
  • The Information Governance Team will issue the final response to the customer.
  • The response will provide details of how to escalate the complaint if they remain unhappy.

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Delays

There will be occasions when we are unable to respond to a complaint within the maximum 30 working days timescale.

When this occurs, the Information Governance Team will:

  • apologise to the customer for the delay and where possible, offer a revised date for a response.
  • chase the relevant department for any information still required.
  • escalate any issues with delays to the appropriate Director or Divisional Director and where necessary to the Chief Executive.

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Escalating a complaint

If the customer remains dissatisfied after the investigation has been completed, the customer can refer their complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman in the following ways:

Website: www.lgo.org.uk
Tel: 0300 061 0614
Post: Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, PO Box 4771, Coventry, CV4 0EH

The Ombudsman investigates complaints in a fair and independent way - it does not take sides. It is a free service.

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