The procedure
4.1 About this procedure
This procedure is for all services the Authority operates which are not covered by the statutory ‘social services’ complaints procedures or subject to any exemptions or exclusions (Appendix 1).
This procedure does not cover other ways that customers can ask for services or get in contact with specific teams to discuss their current or future service provision.
This procedure recognises the difference between a service request and a complaint. A service request is a request from a customer to the Authority requiring action to be taken to put something right. Service requests are not complaints, but will be recorded, monitored and reviewed regularly.
Individual teams will log and monitor service requests, in line with their individual reporting and governance arrangements, often dictated by governing or inspecting bodies.
Service requests received by the Authority’s Customer First Office are recorded, monitored and regularly reviewed. They are also reported to Cabinet in the annual Complaint Report.
The Authority’s housing services, record, monitor and regularly reviews its service requests and report these as part of its annual performance assessment report to Cabinet.
A complaint will be raised when the customer expresses dissatisfaction with the response to their service request, even if the handling of the service request remains ongoing. The Authority will not stop their efforts to address the service request if the customer complains.
An expression of dissatisfaction with services made through a survey is not defined as a complaint, though wherever possible, the person completing the survey should be made aware of how they can pursue a complaint if they wish to. Where the Authority asks for wider feedback about their services, they also must provide details of how customers can complain.
Complaints and service requests are accepted over the telephone, in person, in writing, by email, via the website or by any other reasonable means.
Customers always have the right to refer their complaint to the relevant Ombudsman at any point during the complaint process. The Ombudsman may request that the complainant exhausts the Authority’s complaint procedure before they consider investigating.
If a complaint investigation shows that the Authority has got something wrong, the Authority will record the complaint as being upheld, even if there are elements of the complaint not upheld. It is not appropriate to record a complaint as being partially upheld, although the Authority may provide additional information to show such activity.
4.2 The two stage complaint process
At each stage of the complaints process, complaint handlers will:
a) deal with complaints on their merits, act independently, and have an open mind
b) give the customer a fair chance to set out their position
c) take measures to address any actual or perceived conflict of interest, and
d) consider all relevant information and evidence carefully.
Where a key issue of a complaint relates to the parties’ legal obligations, the Authority will clearly set out their understanding of the obligations of both parties and seek clarification before doing so where this is not initially clear.
The early and local resolution of issues between Authority and customers is key to effective complaint handling.
A complaint response must be provided to the customer when the answer to the complaint is known, not when the outstanding actions required to address the issue are completed. Outstanding actions must still be tracked and actioned promptly with appropriate updates provided to the customer.
Where a response to a complaint will fall outside the timescales set out in this process, the Authority will agree with the customer, suitable intervals for keeping them informed about their complaint. The customer will also be provided with the contact details of, and how to contact the relevant Ombudsman.
Any extension must be no more than 10 working days without good reason, and the reason(s) must be clearly explained to the customer.
| Corporate Complaint |
Complaints will be logged and reported in the Authority’s annual Complaint Report. Complaints should be investigated at Stage One before they can be investigated at Stage Two. The complainant will always have the right to escalate their complaint to the subsequent Stage. The Authority will ensure that appropriate remedies can be provided at any stage of the complaints process, without the need for escalation. Complaints can be started by using this form; emailing customerfirstoffice@northtyneside.gov.uk or by calling the Customer First Office on 0191 643 2280. Stage One When a complaint is made, the Customer First Office will contact the complainant and ask them to write a statement of complaint (if this has not already been completed), describing the complaint and what outcome they would like to see. Support is available from the Customer First Office to complete a statement of complaint. This will be completed and acknowledged by the Customer First Office, within five working days of the first contact. The acknowledgment will set out the Authority’s understanding of the complaint, known as the complaint definition. If any aspect of the complaint is unclear, the customer will be asked for clarification. The Authority will make clear any aspects of the complaint it is not responsible for and clarify any areas where this is not clear. The Authority will address all points raised in the complaint definition and provide clear reasons for any decisions, referencing the relevant policy, law and good practice where appropriate. The statement of complaint will be typically investigated by a manager of the service or team being complained about. The complainant will receive a written acknowledgement, after they have submitted their statement of complaint, including information about the relevant Ombudsman. The Authority will issue a full response to Stage One complaints within 10 working days of the complaint being acknowledged. This response will include information about next steps and a person’s right to approach the Ombudsman about the decision. The Authority will confirm the following in writing to the resident at the completion of Stage One in clear, plain language: a) the complaint stage b) the complaint definition c) the decision on the complaint d) the reasons for any decisions made e) the details of any remedy offered to put things right f) details of any outstanding actions; and g) details of how to escalate the matter to Stage Two if the individual is not satisfied with the response. The Complainant has 10 working days to request escalation of their complaint to Stage Two. Where customers raise additional complaints during the investigation, these must be incorporated into the Stage One response if they are related, and the Stage One response has not been issued. Where the Stage One response has been issued, the new issues are unrelated to the issues already being investigated or it would unreasonably delay the response, the new issues must be logged as a new complaint. Stage Two If all or part of the complaint is not resolved to the resident’s satisfaction at Stage One, it must be progressed to Stage Two; Stage Two is the Authority’s final response. The complainant is not required to give a reason to ask for the complaint to be progressed to Stage Two. Requests for Stage Two must be acknowledged, defined and logged at Stage Two within five working days of the escalation request being received. The person considering the complaint at Stage Two must not be the same person that considered the complaint at Stage One. Stage two complaints will typically be considered by a Head of Service or Senior Manager. The Authority will issue a final response to the Stage Two within 20 working days of the complaint being acknowledged. The Authority will decide whether an extension to this timescale is needed when considering the complexity of the complaint and will then inform the customer of the expected timescale for response, as well as providing the contact details for the relevant Ombudsman. Any extension must be no more than 20 working days without good reason, and the reason(s) must be clearly explained to the customer. The Authority will confirm the following in writing to the customer at the completion of Stage Two in clear, plain language: a) the complaint Stage b) the complaint definition c) the decision on the complaint d) the reasons for any decisions made e) the details of any remedy offered to put things right f) details of any outstanding actions, and g) details of how to escalate the matter to the Ombudsman Service if the individual remains dissatisfied. |
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| Social Care Complaints |
There are two further procedures for investigating adult and children’s social care complaints:
Social care complaints should be raised by using this form, or by calling the Customer First Office on 0191 643 2280. |
| Ombudsman |
A complainant always has the right to refer their complaint to the relevant Ombudsman at any point. The Ombudsman may ask that they exhaust the Authority’s complaint procedure first. Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman - has jurisdiction of complaints about council services. 0300 061 0614 The Housing Ombudsman – has jurisdiction of complaints about social housing, this includes council tenants. 0300 111 3000 |