Corporate Complaints

The County Council constantly strives to satisfy the needs of its customers. But we realise that sometimes we get things wrong and people are not happy with what we do.

We have a corporate policy and procedure for handling complaints from people who may not be happy with what we have done.

What Do We Mean by a Complaint?

In certain situations there are separate arrangements for handling complaints.

How to Make a Complaint

You can make a complaint:

• Through a County Councillor.
• In person at a council office or to a council officer.
• By telephone, fax or minicom (for people with hearing impairment)..
• In writing (either by letter or by filling in our on-line complaints form).
• Through a representative, e.g. a friend, an advocate or lawyer.

When making a complaint, try to give us as much detail as possible, for example:

• What service, policy, person or aspect of the Council you are complaining about.
• If appropriate, the date, time and location where an incident may have taken place and who may have been affected.
• Any expectations you may have had of Council services, as a result of information we provided or what staff or County Councillors may have said.
• Your name, address and contact details so that we can respond to your complaint.
• Anything else which you think would help to make your point and help us to investigate your concerns.

How We Handle Complaints

In the first instance, your complaint will be handled by the council service concerned. Your complaint may be handled by a number of people, but each Service has a Complaints Officer who oversees the handling of complaints. If you wish, you can ask to deal directly with the Service Complaints Officer.

At the first stage we will try to resolve your complaint informally, satisfactorily and as quickly as possible as soon as we receive it. But if the matter cannot be resolved immediately, we will write to you to acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 5 working days of it being lodged, and then provide a fuller written response.

We will send you a written response to your complaint within 15 working days of it being lodged. This could be our final response to your complaint or a progress report of how we are investigating your concerns.

Where we have provided you with a progress report, we will continue to provide you with further progress reports, until your complaint has been dealt with.

If we have not acknowledged your complaint within 5 days of receiving it or have not provided you with a full written response within 15 days, then we will write to explain the reasons why and to give you a date by which time we expect to be able to give you a full or final response.

When we have provided you with a full response we will ask you whether you are satisfied with the way in which your complaint has been handled. If you are not satisfied, a Senior Officer from the Service who will contact you and explain how your complaint will be handled at this second stage will formally investigate your complaint. We will send you a full written response within 20 working days. Any extension to this period will be with your agreement and we will continue to provide you with further progress reports until your complaint has been dealt with.

When we have provided you with a full response at this second stage, we will once again ask whether you are satisfied with the way in which you complaint has been handled. If you are not satisfied, your complaint will be referred to our Acting/Director of Corporate Services who has overall responsibility for administering the Council's complaints procedure and for arranging further investigations where necessary. The timescale for investigation and response at this third stage is 25 working days.

Complaints against Councillors

If you are unhappy about the way that a Councillor has behaved, these complaints are handled by the Council's Standards Committee. Further information and advice about these arrangements are available from Bill McKibbin on tel: 0191 3833507 or Allison Mallabar on tel: 0191 3835580 in Corporate Services at County Hall, Durham.

Putting Things Right

If your complaint is found to be justified, we will write to apologise to the people concerned, and if appropriate, consider remedial action.

Where a complaint has been investigated by the Local Government Ombudsman, we will always give careful consideration to any recommendations.

Anonymous Complaints

Anonymous complaints will be thoroughly investigated where it is possible and appropriate to do so.

Quarterly Report of Complaints

Each quarter we will present a report on complaints handling to the Standards Committee outlining details of:

• The number and types of complaint.
• The average time taken to respond.
• The number of satisfied complainants.
  

We will also indicate what changes we have made to particular policies, procedures or practices in response to complaints.

Specific Complaints Procedures

We are required by the law to have separate arrangements for handling complaints about certain services:

• Complaints - schools.
• Complaints - Children and young people's complaints about Social Care
• Complaints - Adults' complaints about Social Care

Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000

In limited circumstances whilst carrying out its functions the County Council may employ covert investigation techniques which are regulated by the above Act. If you feel your human rights have been infringed because of the County Council's actions a separate independent complaints procedure applies which is carried out buy the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. You can consult our Service Complaints Officers for further details or submit your complaint to the Tribunal direct, see: www.ipt-uk.com.

Local Government Ombudsman

If you are not happy with the way we are handling or have handled your complaint, you can refer the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman (www.lgo.org.uk).

The Local Government Ombudsman is an independent person who investigates allegations of maladminsitration causing injustice to the person who has complained. The Ombudsman investigates complaints about most council matters including housing, planning, education, social services, and council tax.

The Ombudsman who deals with Durham County Council is at:

Local Government Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH

Telephone: Mon-Fri 8.30am to 5.00pm, 0845 6021983
email: advice@lgo.org.uk
Text: 0762 4804323

The Local Government Ombudsman has a leaflet called "Complaint about the Council? How to complain to the Local Government Ombudsman". You can get a copy by telephoning or writing to the address above, or you can download it from the Ombudsman's website.

(The booklet which contains a complaint form is also available from any of the Council's branch libraries, the Help Desk at County Hall, or by telephoning either 0191 3834567 or 0191 3835580.)

If you have an enquiry about the Local Government Ombudsman's service you can telephone their Adviceline on 0845 6021983.

Where the Ombudsman is involved in a complaint against the Council, the Acting Director of Corporate Services will handle the complaint, in consultation with the relevant Service.

Ombudsman's Annual Letter 2007/2008

The Ombudsman produces an Annual Letter each year which provides a summary of complaints made about the County Council and also comments on the Council's performance and complaint handling arrangements. The Annual Letter for 2007/08, together with statistical data for the past 3 years are available in the following attachments.

Ombudsman's Annual Letter 2007/2008.pdf (2 pages, 80kb)

Ombudsman's Statistical Data.pdf (1 page, 68kb)

Notes to Assist Interpretation.pdf (2 pages, 21kb)