Complaints policy and procedure

Responses to Complaints - Our Two Stage Process

1. The two stages to our formal complaints process are:

Stage 1 - Investigation

Stage 2 - Review

2. All responses to complaints at both stages will:

• Be acknowledged, advising the complainant of the stage of the complaint and who is dealing with the complaint
• Be responded to in plain language, giving the decision or outcome and the reasons
• State whether we acknowledge we have been at fault in some way
• Give details of how the customer can pursue their complaint if they are not satisfied with the outcome, or with the way their complaint has been handled
• What we will do to put things right, where appropriate
• Details of any outstanding actions, where appropriate

3. When our complaints investigation has been completed, we will write to the customer with a detailed response. In some cases, it may be more appropriate to first respond verbally (via telephone or face-to-face), followed by a written confirmation of the conversation and outcome.

4. The response will clearly state what decision has been reached regarding the complaint and explain the reasons why.

5. Where the complaint has been upheld or partially upheld at any stage of the process, we will:

• Provide a summary of the complaint and the outcome of the investigation.
• Provide background information relevant to the complaint.
• Acknowledge the fault, apologise and provide an explanation or reason.
• Advise what actions we will take in response to the complaint, (lessons learned) including but not limited to, any adjustments to policy or procedure, deliver staff training to prevent the same things happening again, or dates for works or services to be completed.
• Set out clear timescale within which the action/s will be taken to put things right.
• Provide the name of the officer responsible for taking the action/s and their contact details.
• Consider any other reasonable remedies that the complainant thinks appropriate in line with council policies.

6. Where the complaint is not upheld the response will, as a minimum:

• Provide a summary of the complaint and outcome of the investigation.
• Provide background information relevant to the complaint.
• Provide an explanation of the decision.

Housing Services Related Complaints Only

7. To ensure compliance with the Housing Ombudsman's Complaint Handling Code, we will manage complaints about our housing service as set out in section 9 of the policy above, but with the following variations:

• For housing services related complaints, at all stages we will give details of how the customer can pursue their complaint if they are not satisfied with the outcome, decision or with the way their complaint has been handled, including details of the Ombudsman service relevant to the complaint.
• When our complaints investigation or review has been completed, at all stages the complainant will be given fair opportunity to discuss the complaint (if they wish) before a final decision or outcome is issued.
• This will primarily be done verbally (via telephone or face-to-face), followed by a written confirmation of the conversation and decision or outcome.
• Where telephone or face-to-face is not possible, an interim draft response will be sent using the complainants preferred contact method within 5 working days of the complaint being allocated to the investigating / reviewing officer. The interim response will invite the complainant to make contact to discuss their complaint or respond in writing with any feedback or comments they may have.
• Complainants will have 5 working days from the date the draft response is issued to respond. After this time has lapsed, we will issue a final decision or outcome within 5 working days after that date.
• Only after we have considered any responses to the draft response (if received) will we issue a final decision or outcome.
• The final response target is 10 working days inclusive of giving the tenant opportunity to discuss the complaint.