Good complaint handling helps people feel heard and understood. It starts with a clear understanding of the difference between a service request and a complaint. Most issues can be resolved through normal service request processes.
Complaint or service request?
Service requests
A service request is a request that the organisation (HDC) provides or improves a service, fixes a problem or reconsiders a decision. Examples include reporting a missed bin, telling us about fly tipping or appealing a parking fine.
We should have the opportunity to deal with a service request before a complaint is made. We encourage anyone who has a concern to first contact the relevant service, who will try to resolve the issue for you.
You can contact a service, give feedback online or talk to our Customer Service Team on 01480 388388.
If the problem can be solved on the spot, there may be no need for the issue to go through the formal complaints process.
Complaints
A complaint is where a person, of group of people, expresses dissatisfaction about the standard of a service, actions (or lack of action) by the council, its staff or those acting on its behalf.
We encourage anyone who has a concern to first contact the relevant service, If you have done this but you are still dissatisfied, please see the 'How do I make a complaint?' section below.
How do I make a complaint?
If you have already contacted the relevant service and are unhappy with the response, then you can register a formal complaint in one of the following ways:
Make a Formal Complaint Online-
by phone: 01480 388388
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by letter to:
Complaints
Pathfinder House
St Mary’s Street, Huntingdon
Cambs
PE29 3TN
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by email
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in person at our customer service centre in Pathfinder House, Huntingdon
- if your complaint relates to One Leisure, at any of the 4 One Leisure sites.
If you make a complaint by phone, letter or email, please give us much information as possible - what we did wrong, when did this happen, what do you think we should do to put this right?
This will enable us to investigate your complaint quicker.
What will happen to my complaint?
We manage complaints in 2 stages.
At Stage 1, a complaint should be acknowledged within five working days of it being received. A response to Stage 1 complaints should be provided within 10 working days of the complaint being acknowledged.
If you are unhappy with the response to your Stage 1 complaint you can request a review at Stage 2 in our complaints process.
At Stage 2, a complaint should be acknowledged within five working days of the escalation request being received. A response to the Stage 2 complaint should be provided within 20 working days of the complaint being acknowledged.
What is our complaints process?
We manage complaints in two stages. At both stages, we aim to:
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acknowledge a complaint within 5 working days;
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fully investigate and respond within 20 working days. If we are unable to meet this timescale, we will contact you to explain what action we are taking and when you can expect a response.
Stage One - A service manager from the relevant area will manage the investigation and work hard to resolve the issue promptly. This may or may not be the manager/team member who was involved at any previous resolution stage.
Stage Two - If you remain dissatisfied after Stage One, the complaint will be passed onto the next stage, where it will be reviewed by a senior Officer or independent Officer. There may be instances when the council will advise you to escalate your concerns directly with the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) following the Stage One response. This will be clearly explained to you and will only occur when the council is satisfied that you have had an opportunity to have your queries considered and all issues raised by you have been addressed.
If you remain dissatisfied, you can contact the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGO). They are the final stage for complaints about councils and they are a free service. The LGO will not usually investigate a complaint until the council has had an opportunity to investigate and answer it first.
Do you want more information on our complaints process?
We are committed to 'doing our core work well' as set out within our Corporate Plan. We want to provide you with a great service, but you might want to suggest improvements, or you might want to compliment us on getting it right. When something goes wrong, we would really like to hear your concerns.
What is a complaint?
Within their document, Guidance on Effective Complaint Handling for Local Authorities, the Local Government Ombudsman describes a complaint as:
"A complaint is an expression of dissatisfaction about a council service (whether that service is provided directly by the council or by a contractor or partner) that requires a response."
This is the definition that the council will use in our complaints handling processes. This could be dissatisfaction with any of the following:
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customer service received
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council employee’s behaviour
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failure to respond
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site facilities.
What is not a complaint?
There are some situations that the council would not take through the complaints process and will not be recorded as a formal complaint, for example:
Requests for service or information
If a customer raises a concern with the council for the first time, it will be treated as a service resolution request. A service resolution request will not be classed as a formal complaint as the service area has not yet had the opportunity to deal with it. These are service requests, alerting us to work that needs to be done. These requests may however become a complaint if we do not deal with them appropriately.
Disagreement with the result of a process that has its own Appeal/Tribunal process
Appeal processes exist for a number of areas including benefit claims, Council Tax and Business Rates liability disputes, car parking fines, planning applications and housing reviews.
Complaints about the conduct of a councillor which will be dealt with by the Monitoring Officer.
Some complaints are expressions of dissatisfaction with the council or government policy as opposed to the council’s failure to live up to service standards. If the policy decision has been agreed by councillors following proper procedures as set out in the council’s constitution, the customer cannot make a formal complaint about it. However, the council will do its best to explain the policy and the reasons for it.
If the issue is more than 12 months old, it is likely it would be deemed too old to be investigated as a formal complaint, unless there is a good reason for the delay (for example, someone has been unable to lodge their complaint earlier due to incapacity, or where new information has come to light which could have affected the original investigation).
Issues that fall under the Freedom of Information Act or General Data Protection Regulation (including the right of access to personal data) which fall under the Information Commissioner’s Office
If the complaint is about an issue that is outside the council’s responsibility, where possible the council will signpost the customer. The council will not forward the customer’s details (due to issues around General Data Protection Regulation).
Service requests
Information about all our services is available by searching our website and you can use the forms to request services. You can also use our online MyHuntingdonshire customer portal