Complaints guidance

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1. Introduction

1.1 This complaints guidance has been written to provide advice and support to staff who are dealing with complaints.  

1.2 The policy should be read in conjunction with the Council’s Corporate Complaints Procedure, Equality and Diversity Policy, Dignity at Work Policy and other relevant policies such as the Staff Code of Conduct and the Disciplinary Procedure.

1.3 We will be fair, open and transparent in the way we respond to complaints. Our priority will be to resolve complaints as quickly as possible and not to be defensive.

1.4 Complaints are key sources of customer feedback and should be treated as such. Listening to and acting on complaints will help us to improve our services. Complaints highlight gaps in service provision so that we can identify where the problems are and work together to resolve them.

1.5 A good complaints system should be simple, easy to understand and robust. It should explain in plain English how someone can make a complaint, what happens once a complaint has been made, what happens to the information about that complaint and where an individual can go outside the Council should they wish to take matters further.

1.6 You need to be familiar with the complaints procedure – our aim is to try to resolve complaints as close as possible to first point of contact, and as members of staff you play a key role in making the process effective. There are designated complaint managers in each service department, and a Corporate Complaints team who will be able to give you advice and support in handling complaints. However, all of us need to recognise that complaints are everyone’s business, not just something for someone else to deal with.

1.7  We need to be honest with people when they complain. We should always seek to resolve their complaint. Sometimes that won’t be possible, for example, if they are asking us to do something that goes against an established policy and there is no compelling reason to make an exception. In these cases we should be firm about our decision, explain it clearly, and be honest about what we can and can’t do.

2. What is a complaint and who can complain?

2.1 A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction about a service that Wiltshire Council provides. It can be made by a customer or the customer’s representative.

2.2 If the customer is dissatisfied, it is a complaint and should be treated as such. We do not require them to specifically state that they want to make a complaint. However it should be noted that reporting a fault or minor problem may be a request for service rather than a complaint. Judgement should be exercised and staff and officers should know their area of work well enough to distinguish between the two. Obviously if the customer is insistent on it being a complaint, then the complaints procedure can be used.

2.3 Complaints can be made and received by any method the customer chooses. They are not expected to put it in writing if they do not wish to and should they wish to make it verbally, it is the responsibility of the officer dealing with the customer to take down as much information as possible.

2.4 The types of complaints that may be received by customers might include:

• A service has not been provided when it should have been
• The standard of service provided is not an acceptable standard
• Lack of communication with the customer
• Delay in providing a service or resolving an issue they have raised
• Issues concerning discrimination, harassment or unfair treatment

3. Complaints about staff

3.1 Complaints about the behaviour or conduct of staff cannot be considered through the complaints procedure because of the need to make links to the relevant employment legislation requirements. Please seek advice from your departmental complaints manager or a member of the Corporate Complaints team if you receive a complaint about staff conduct.

4. Complaints about Councillors

4.1 There is a separate procedure for addressing complaints made about councillors. If you receive a complaint about a councillor, you should refer the matter to the Head of Governance, details of which can be found on the Intranet and in the complaints procedure.

5. Resolving a complaint

5.1 The first rule to resolving a complaint is to understand what the customer is complaining about, and what outcome they are seeking.

5.2 The key points to keep in mind are:

• Do we have a duty or power to deliver the service?
• If so, have we delivered that service?
• If we have, did we do it to the standards expected by the customer?
• If we haven’t delivered it, was there a reasonable explanation?
• If there was a reasonable explanation have we told the customer that?

5.3 Once we have undertaken that process, consideration can be giving to a possible resolution.  

5.4 There is no universal answer to providing redress for complaints we have upheld. The advice given by the Local Government Ombudsman is:

'The remedy needs to be appropriate and proportionate to the injustice. It should, as far as possible, put the complainant in the position he or she would have been in but for the maladministration’

6. Equality and diversity complaints (including complaints relating to allegations of discrimination or discriminatory behaviour)

6.1 When we receive a complaint which involves any allegation of discrimination or unfair treatment on the grounds of your race, gender, disability, sexuality, faith/belief or age, in matters relating to our service delivery these complaints will be taken to Stage 2 of the corporate complaints procedure.

6.2 You will then need to inform the Corporate Complaints team that such a complaint has been received.  

6.3 The complaint will then be assessed by the Corporate Complaints Manager with advice and support from the Equality and Diversity Manager.

6.4 When the complaint has been assessed, the Corporate Complaints Manager will provide support to the appropriate investigating officer.

6.5 If the complaint relates to allegations of unfair or discriminatory treatment through inappropriate staff conduct and behaviour, then these must be recorded.

6.6 The Corporate Complaints team will record the details of the complaint and then forward details of the complaint relating to staff misconduct and behaviour to both relevant supervisors/managers and HR Business Support Managers.

6.7 Such complaints will be recorded on relevant HR business management systems in order to meet relevant equality legislative requirements (e.g. employment specific duties under the equality schemes).

6.8 These complaints will be progressed, where appropriate, through our staff conduct policies and procedures.

6.9 As part of this process the HR Business Managers and other line managers may wish to liaise with the Corporate Equality and Diversity Manager in order to seek advice/support in relevant investigations and/or relevant decision making.

6.10 Depending on the seriousness of the allegations, it may be necessary to refer the matter directly to the police.

6.11 If you would prefer to seek independent advice, you may wish to contact The Equality and Human Rights Commission. Further information can be found at the commission’s website.

7. Advice and support for the customer

7.1 There are often times when customers won’t know or understand who can resolve their complaint for them. Often complaints are made in times of extreme frustration and stress and we must always bear this in mind when we are dealing with a complaint.

7.2 Some customers may need special support to enable them to make their complaint. We must always have due regard to our responsibilities with regard to equality and diversity when we deal with complaints (see above).

7.3 Sometimes people want to complain about services that we don’t provide. If that happens, you should make every effort to advise the customer where they can seek further help. Examples of this might be:

• A central government department such as Department for Work and Pensions
• Citizens Advice Bureau
• A solicitor
• Another organisation such as NHS, PCT, Police, College, University
• Another local authority

8. Accessibility

8.1 We must ensure that the complaints procedure is made available to all members of the community. We will publicise the procedure widely, and people will be able to complain by post, by email, by telephone, through our website, face-to-face and by any other appropriate means.

8.2 We will make every effort to provide information in different formats and languages, such as, Braille and audio, BSL and through translation services when required.

9. Roles and responsibilities

9.1 Our aim is to seek to resolve complaints as close as possible to the point of service delivery. This means that many managers and officers will also be responsible for responding to complaints at Stage 1 of the corporate complaints procedure. At Stage 1 they are responsible for logging complaints, investigating them and giving the customer a reasoned response. If at all possible, they should seek to settle the complaint. If they are unable to provide the solution the customer wants, they must explain clearly but firmly why it is not possible. If a financial settlement may be appropriate they must first seek permission from the appropriate budget holder.

9.2 If it is not possible to resolve a complaint at Stage 1, the officer responsible must let the customer know that they can follow the complaint up at Stage 2 of the procedure.

9.3 There is a complaints manager in every service department. They will provide support and advice and work with staff to resolve complaints at Stage 1. They will also liaise and have regular communication with the Corporate Complaints team in relation to Stage 2 complaints. When a complaint progresses to a Stage 2, the department complaints manager will be responsible for providing an overview of the complaint including what the complaint is about, what has been done to resolve it and if this has not been possible an explanation as to why this cannot be achieved.

9.4 It will be the responsibility of the Corporate Complaints team to review the complaint and respond directly to the customer. The team will also advise the customer of how to progress their complaint to the Local Government Ombudsman if they remain dissatisfied with the response.

10. What to do when you receive a complaint

The complaints procedure is a two stage process.

10.1 Stage 1 is where most complaints should be handled quickly and where possible resolved.

10.2 When you receive a complaint, you must either log it on an e-form which is available to you on the intranet or advise your department complaints manager. You will be asked to provide information such as the name and contact details of the customer and information about the nature of the complaint.

10.3 You or a nominated member of your team must acknowledge receipt of the complaint within two working days. The acknowledgement should provide an estimate of when the customer can expect to receive a substantive reply. This should in most circumstances not take much more than a week. However, if it is necessary to take longer than the original estimate, you must let the customer know of the delay and provide a revised timetable.  

10.4 Investigate the complaint, think what you could do to put it right if possible, and let the customer know the outcome.  

10.5 If the customer is happy with your proposed solution, implement it. Once you have done that, make a note that you have done so and send a copy to the corporate complaints team so that they can update the complaints database.

10.6 If the customer is not happy with your response, let them know that they can progress their complaint to Stage 2 for a review, give them details of how to contact the corporate complaints team, and let the corporate complaints team know what is happening. You should also notify you department complaints manager.

10.7 Stage 2 complaints will be reviewed by an investigating officer in the Corporate Complaints team. The purpose of the review is to challenge any implicit assumptions about resolution and seek to find a solution to the complaint.  

10.8 The department’s complaints manager will be responsible for providing the investigating officer with an outline of the complaint, any action taken thus far, and any associated correspondence. The investigating officer will let the customer know that we will be conducting a Stage 2 review within two working days of receiving notification from the department that the complaint has progressed to Stage 2. The customer will be informed how long the review is expected to take. The corporate team will seek to resolve the complaint, and will liaise with the service area manager to do so.

10.9 If the review process takes longer than initially estimated, the investigating officer will provide the customer with a revised estimate of the date on which the review will be completed. We aim to review complaints within a month. In exceptional circumstances this can be extended.

10.10 When the review is complete the investigating officer will let the customer know the outcome.  

10.11 If, after discussion with the service area, the investigating officer proposes a solution as part of the outcome and the customer accepts it, the service area will be responsible for implementing the solution and letting the investigating officer know when all agreed actions have been taken. The investigating officer will make a note of this on the complaints management system and close the case.

10.12 If the customer is not satisfied with the review, the investigating officer will advise them of their right to complain to the Ombudsman. The Corporate Complaints Manager is responsible for investigating and responding to Ombudsman complaints.

11. Repeated and vexatious complaints

11.1 A small percentage of customers will be persistent complainants, or will complain in a way that appears to be obsessive, harassing or repetitious. This minority of individuals requires a disproportionate amount of resource, and can sometimes act in a manner that is unacceptably stressful for staff.

11.2 While every customer has the right to make a legitimate complaint, they are not entitled to do so in a way that is unreasonable or which has the effect of intimidating or harassing staff.

11.3 If you consider that a complaint exhibits these characteristics, please seek advice from the Corporate Complaints team, giving information about the history of the complaint and the behaviours that are giving cause for concern. The Corporate Complaints team will advise on a suitable way forward.

11.4 A vexatious or persistent complaint can be characterised in a number of ways:

• Actions which are obsessive, persistent, harassing, prolific, repetitious.
• Insistence upon pursuing unmeritorious complaints and/or unrealistic outcomes beyond all reason
• Insistence upon pursuing meritorious complaints in an unreasonable manner.

12. Cross-cutting complaints

12.1 In the event that a complaint spans across several service departments, it should be referred to the Corporate Complaints team, who will co-ordinate the investigation.

12.2 The team will seek advice from the appropriate department and be responsible for ensuring a full and substantive response is sent.

12.3 The customer will be provided with a named contact and will be updated by the Corporate Complaints team about the progress of their complaint.

13. Statutory complaints

13.1 Some complaints which are received within the Community Services and Children and Education departments are required to be considered under the statutory complaints procedure.  

13.2 These issues are covered under a separate complaints procedure provided by current legislation.  

13.3 If you are unsure whether the complaint you have received should be dealt with under the corporate complaints procedure or the statutory one, refer to either the departmental complaints manager or the Corporate Complaints team.

14. Planning, housing, revenues & benefits, council tax complaints

14.1 Many of the issues that will be raised under these headings will be governed by legislation and we will have to adhere to strict rules and regulations in trying to resolve them. The customer should be advised when raising such a complaint, that we are subject to the restrictions placed on us by law and cannot resolve this through the complaints procedure. If the matter concerns issues such as a lack of communication, or the way they were treated in general terms, then please advise them of the corporate complaints procedure.

15. Learning and improvement

15.1 All complaints will be logged on the complaints management system. This enables us to capture information about the type of complaints we receive, how many we uphold, and most importantly, gives us information that enables us to improve performance for the benefit of all our customers.

15.2 The Chief Executive and the leadership team (CLT) will receive monthly reports about all complaints, based on the information officers across the council will enter using e-forms. CLT will receive regular advice about recurrent or emerging themes identified by complaints information, and use that information to identify areas for service improvements. The Chief Executive receives a detailed monthly report on all complaints at Stage 2 of the corporate procedure, all which are at Stage 3 of the statutory social services procedure, all Ombudsman complaints, and any complaints which are causing particular concern to complaints officers.

15.3 The Corporate Complaints team will seek feedback from customers who have used the complaints procedure, to ensure that we understand how the complaints procedure is working from the customer’s point of view.

16. Conclusion

16.1 This document can only provide guidance. Not every circumstance can be captured and there will always be exceptions. If you are in any doubt about whether a complaint should be handled using the corporate complaints procedure, please ask your complaints manager or a member of the Corporate Complaints team.

Last updated: 21 January 2011