Complaints policy and procedure

10.1    A new complaint will be recorded as a  complaint at Stage 1 of the council’s complaints procedure. The council will acknowledge the complaint within 3 working days of receipt advising the customer who is dealing with the complaint.
10.2    The complaint will be investigated and responded to by an appropriate officer. This would usually be the person who has direct responsibility for the service, staff involved or the issue complained about. At this point, we may seek to clarify details about the complaint, together with confirming what outcome the customer is hoping for, if they haven’t already told us.  
10.3    The complaint will be investigated, and we will send a detailed response within 10 working days from the date the complaint was acknowledged.
10.4    For complex complaints, it is recognised it is good practise to discuss the stage 1 complaint investigation with the customer before our decision or outcome is communicated.
10.5    For complex cases, the 10-day timeframe may be extended for up to a further 10 working days, and the customer will be advised of this.
10.6    If we extend a timescale for response, we will also provide the customer with the Ombudsman details.
10.7    Responses will be provided when the answer to the complaint is known and not when outstanding actions to address the issue are completed.
10.8    Where further information is required from the customer, we may need to extend the response period. If we do not receive the information requested, we will respond based on the information we do have within the response timescales.  
10.9    If a customer raises additional complaints during the Stage 1 investigation, these must be considered and incorporated into the response. If a Stage 1 response has been issued, and the new issues are unrelated or would unreasonably delay the response, a new Stage 1 complaint will be logged.
10.10    If a customer remains unhappy with the outcome or the way the complaint has been handled, they have the right to request a review of their complaint under the Stage 2 of our complaints procedure.    
10.11    To escalate their complaint to Stage 2, the customer should notify the council within two months of the date of the Stage 1 response, providing details of why they remain dissatisfied and what further remedy they are seeking.
10.12    Requests to escalate can be made online, by telephone or face-to-face, by visiting any council office (during office hours), by email or by post.
10.13    If the customer  wishes to request an extension to the two-month deadline they should write to the council and each request will be considered on a case-by-case basis.