Castle Point Borough Council

CUSTOMER COMPLAINT PROCEDURE

Have you suffered because of poor administration by Council departments?

Have you been unfairly refused access to Council information or services?

This leaflet tells you how to make a complaint about the Council.

Castle Point Borough Council

Council Offices

Kiln Road

Thundersley

BENFLEET

EssexSS7 1TF

THE CUSTOMER COMPLAINT POLICY AND PROCEDURE

At Castle Point we value our customers – the residents, businesses and organisations which make up the community of the Borough. We provide a wide range of services and seek to deliver these efficiently and effectively. However, there will be occasions when we may not meet our standards and you may not feel satisfied with our actions.

Our procedure covers the way that we, the Council, has done, or not done, something, and it only relates to services we directly provide. A complaint can be made for a number of reasons. Some examples include if we:

took too long to do something;
did not abide with our own rules or we broke the law;
broke our own promises;
treated you unfairly;
gave you wrong information or misleading advice; or
did not make a decision in the correct way.

As Customer Care Officer, my job is to investigate complaints by members of the public, about the Council. This leaflet describes what I can do to help you and tells you how to complain. If you think I can help you, please complete the attached form and send it to me. If you need any assistance, please telephone me on 01268 882417 or you can contact a local Councillor.

There may be occasions when you feel that we have not done something as well as you would have liked, but you do not wish to make a formal complaint, but would like to let us know your views. In those circumstances you may find our suggestion form helpful. I can send you this alternative form if you telephone me on the number above.

John Riley

Customer Care Officer

HOW DO I COMPLAIN?

Please complete and send to me the attached form giving full details of your complaint, stating what you feel we did wrong and what you consider should be done to put matters right. If this is difficult, ask someone to help you. If you wish, you may get a friend, relative or local Councillor to act for you.

Please send any documents to support your case, such as letters, and they will be used to assist my investigation.

I will acknowledge your complaint within five working days of receipt and will also give you a reference number, which you should quote in all future dealings with your case. This will help me to deal with your complaint and will also help in maintaining a central record of complaints received.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO MY COMPLAINT?

I will carry out a full investigation, after which I will write to you to let you know the outcome and my conclusion. I intend to do this within twenty working days from receipt of your form and if there is likely to be a delay beyond then, I will tell you the reasons why and give you a revised response time.

If I consider that your complaint is justified, I will write to you to tell you how we intend to put matters right. Alternatively, if, following the investigation, I feel that your complaint is not upheld, I will explain why.

IF I AM NOT SATISFIED, WHAT CAN I DO?

You can contact me, as it may be appropriate to refer it for a review by the Council’s Standards Sub-Committee, which consists of various elected Councillors and independent Members.

Meetings of the Standards Sub-Committee will be held within six weeks from the date I am informed by you that you wish the matter to be referred to the Panel.

HOUSING BENEFIT COMPLAINTS

This is a highly specialist area where we sometimes get complaints. We will investigate them, but often the complaint is that the applicant is not happy with the amount of benefit granted, rather than we have not done something correctly.

As we have to follow specific Regulations in the amount awarded, often there is little the Council can do.

Complainants should be aware that they could appeal against the level of benefit granted to the independent Appeals Service. This must be done, however, within one calendar month of the date of the benefit notification. It is very important therefore, that such an appeal is made quickly and time is not lost going through this complaint procedure. A Housing Benefit appeal form can be obtained from Revenue Services (Tel. 01268 882202)

If as a result of my investigation a Housing Benefit complaint relates to the amount of award, rather than any failure of the Council, the case will not be referred to the Hearing and Appeals Panel.

Freedom of Information Complaints

We sometimes get complaints from people who have applied for information and the Council has decided not to provide this information because an exemption applies.

If you have followed the complaint procedure and you are still unhappy you can complain to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner will investigate whether the local authority has complied with the Freedom of Information Act. The Commissioner will expect you to have followed the customer complaint procedure first.

Any complaints can be directed to the FOI Compliance Team, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

COUNCIL HOUSING: HOMELESS, HOUSING REGISTER & TRANSFER LIST APPLICANTS

We sometimes get complaints from people who have applied for Council housing and feel that we have treated them unfairly or incorrectly.

In these circumstances we must follow specific regulations for reviews and appeals under the Housing Act 1996 and the Homelessness Act 2002.

All housing applicants are provided with details of their legal right to request a review or appeal in any correspondence from us. Complainants are reminded that any request must be made within 21 days from the day on which any decision was notified to them.

Reviews will be undertaken by a senior officer not involved in the applicant’s case or the original decision, the applicant will have the right to be represented during a review and the applicants will be notified in writing of the review decision and the reasons for it within 56 days.

In some circumstances, applicants will have a further right of appeal to the County Court on a point of law only.

Further details on review and appeal procedures can be obtained from the Housing Advice Officers (Tel: 01268 882317 or 01268 882323).

CAN I APPEAL AGAINST YOUR DECISION?

If you have followed the above procedure and are unhappy with my decision and that of the Complaints Panel, you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman. The Ombudsman will only determine whether maladministration has occurred on the part of the Council i.e. the way in which we have handled your case – not the decision itself.

You can request a leaflet from me, or complaints can be sent to, The Local Government Ombudsman, MillbankTower, Millbank, London, SW1P 4QP.

Phone: 0207 2174620. E-mail:

NB: When you complain to the Local Government Ombudsman, they expect you to have followed our customer complaint procedure first.

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USEFUL INFORMATION

If you are unsure which department you are complaining about, the following information may assist you.

Before going through the formal complaint procedure, you should first try to solve the problem directly with the department concerned.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S DEPARTMENT

Responsible for Policy and Procurement; Media; Democratic Services; Elections and Strategy and Performance. David Marchant is the Chief Executive.

SUPPORT SERVICES DEPARTMENT

Responsible for Facilities and Asset Management; Legal and Land Charges services; Personnel and Management; and Licensing. Andrew Smith is the Corporate Director (Support), and also the Monitoring Officer.

RESOURCES DEPARTMENT

Responsible for Internal Audit; Payroll; Risk Management, and Insurance. Devinia Board is the Corporate Director (Resources).

COMMUNITY SERVICES DEPARTMENT

Responsible for Housing Services; Leisure Services; Partnerships, Community Halls and Community Safety, and Revenue and Benefits. Alan Longford is the Corporate Director (Community).

ENVIRONMENT AND OPEN SPACES DEPARTMENT

Responsible forEnvironmental Health; Planning and Regeneration; Building Control; Street, and Parks and Open Spaces. Ian Burchill is the Corporate Director (Environment).

When telephoning us, please ask for the name of the officer that you are speaking to.

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I would be grateful if you would complete this section for monitoring purposes

The details will not be disclosed to any other source.

1. Ethnic Group

White 

MixedAsian or Asian British

White and Black CaribbeanIndian

White & Black AfricanPakistani

White & AsianBangladeshi

Other mixedOther Asian

…………………………………………………..

Black or BlackBritishOthers

CaribbeanChinese

AfricanIrish

Other BlackOther

………………………………………………………………………

2. SexMaleFemale

3. Age

Under 16 16-19 20-2425-59  60 -64 65 and above 

4. Do you have a disability ?Yes No

NAME ......

(BLOCK CAPITALS PLEASE)

TITLE (MISS, MRS, MS, MR)......

ADDRESS (INCLUDE POSTCODE)......

......

TEL (HOME)......

TEL (WORK)......

DEPARTMENT OR SERVICE THAT YOU WISH TO COMPLAIN ABOUT

......

NAME OF OFFICER INVOLVED (If known)

......

HAVE YOU TOLD YOUR LOCAL COUNCILLOR ABOUT YOUR COMPLAINT? IF SO, WHAT IS HIS/HER NAME?

......

PLEASE GIVE DETAILS OF YOUR COMPLAINT

......

PLEASE GIVE DETAILS OF WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE THE COUNCIL TO DO TO PUT THIS MATTER RIGHT

......

SIGNED:......

DATE:......

PLEASE SEND THIS FORM, AND ANY RELEVANT INFORMATION TO:

JOHN RILEY

CUSTOMER CARE OFFICER

CASTLE POINT BOROUGH COUNCIL

COUNCIL OFFICES, KILN ROAD

THUNDERSLEY, BENFLEET

ESSEX SS7 1TF

Tel. 01268 882417