Comments, compliments and complaints policy

We recognise the right of our customers to complain and indeed welcomes complaints as a valuable form of feedback about its services. We are committed to using information gained from complaints to help drive forward improvements to services and to better meet the needs of customers. For clarity, a customer is any individual, group of individuals or business that requests or receives a service from us.

The procedure is intended to allow us to formally manage corporate comments, compliments and complaints through the Customer Relations Team.

Our Director of Resource and Support Services champions this area of work for us whilst the Customer Relations Officer is responsible for overseeing the implementation of corporate procedures for complaints resolution.

This procedure defines the process for complaints, how the Customer Relations Officer is kept informed, the timeline for dealing with complaints and corporate ownership of the procedure.

The importance of a robust complaints procedure should be seen as a significant mechanism by all our staff to help drive through the council plan which underpins our commitment to delivering high quality and community-driven services.

Details of the procedure will be made available and publicised on our intranet, website, at the induction process for members and staff, in our internal policies and procedures, and at all Customer Service centres.

We understand that many complaints will be dealt with informally at the time they are first raised to the satisfaction of the person complaining. If the customer is not satisfied, the procedure then gives an opportunity for the complaint to be fully investigated.

The procedure does not prejudice the customers’ right to refer a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman for further investigation if not satisfied with the resolution offered by us.

A complaint made under this procedure will not prejudice the standard of service the customer will receive across our usual services.