Complaints and Feedback Policy

We handle complaints according to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s guidelines. When you submit a complaint, we aim to correct any issues and use the experience as an opportunity to learn and improve.

When you complain, you will need to tell us:

• what has gone wrong
• how this has affected you or others
• what you would like us to do

When we first receive your complaint, we will triage this to:

• check whether a complaint may be a service request
• check whether the person is someone who can complain
• check whether it is a matter that can be complained about
• check whether there are opportunities to resolve complaints quickly
• identify the most appropriate person to handle the complaint

We will acknowledge your contact within five working days of receipt and explain how this will be handled.

A serious complaint or a case where we have previously corresponded with you may go directly to Stage 2 depending on the nature of the complaint.

If the action you expect us to take is unreasonable or unrealistic, we will tell you as soon as we can.

We reserve the right to refuse a complaint at either stage 1 or stage 2 of the complaints procedure for example if there is any other process available to deal with the issue. If we do refuse a complaint, we will explain why and tell the person making the complaint where else they can take their complaint (for example to Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman).