To handle any complaints you receive, we advise you to follow the steps below:
- gather information
- evaluate the complaint
- log the complaint
- respond to the complainant
- refer the complaint to either your council's complaints team or to the appropriate authority if the complaint is not within your council's remit
- track progress
- if the complaint is unresolved, refer the complainant to the appropriate ombudsman.
Gather information
At this point you want to gather as much information as possible so that you fully understand the complaint and can decide if anyone else needs to be involved and what should happen next. Here is an information checklist of things to find out:
- details of the complainant – full name, age, contact details
- what went wrong – exact and concise details of the problem, including dates and times if appropriate
- what the effect was – the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) calls this the ‘injustice’ – knowing this will make it easier for you to express empathy, and will aid the complaints team in establishing more about the complaint and a potential remedy
- evidence – find out what supporting documentation or other evidence exists to support the complaint
- desired outcome – identify what the complainant would like the outcome of the complaint to be – some complainants have unrealistic expectations: for example, it is unlikely that the council will be able to give them large sums of financial compensation such as those awarded by the courts
- reasonable adjustments – find out whether any reasonable adjustments need to be made, and whether an advocate is required
- safeguarding issues – be alert for any other action that may need to be taken in relation to a vulnerable adult or child.
Hints and tips – Questioning techniques for gathering information
An effective questioning technique for gathering information is to use open and closed questions.
Closed questions
Closed questions have only one answer which will usually be a fact and is often ‘yes ‘or ‘no’.
Closed questions are:
- easy and quick to answer
- good for putting people at ease early in the conversation
- good for gathering and expanding on information
- good for receiving confirmation of an outcome.
Open questions
Open questions require more information in the response to them. They give the person answering an opportunity to explain their opinions, ideas, and feelings in their own words.
Open questions:
- make people feel that you believe they are worth listening to
- help to clarify a person’s issues, needs and perspectives
- start with words like ‘what’, ‘how’, ‘why’, and ‘describe’
- help the complainant to make decisions.
Evaluate the complaint
Once you have all the information, you can decide whether the complaint is something that should be dealt with by your council’s complaints team. A valid complaint is about services provided by the council, whether those services are provided directly by the council or by a third party, private company, or volunteer group on their behalf.
A valid complaint could, for example, be about:
- the way a service has been delivered
- a service that hasn’t been delivered
- the way a decision has been made that has caused problems for the complainant.
For example, the complaint could be that the council took too long to do something, failed to meet expected standards of service, or provided wrong information.
Sometimes complaints are made that should either be handled by another organisation or are not appropriate to refer to the council’s complaints team. These kinds of complaints could, for example, be about:
- a service request – the complaint may be a request for a service but could become a complaint if it is not dealt with properly – find out more about what the complainant wants and identify the relevant service area to direct them to
- an appeal or review – the complainant may have a right to appeal a council’s decision or to request a review – your complaints team will be able to advise you on when this is the case, and whether the council or an independent panel would carry out the appeal or review
- ongoing court proceedings – if you receive a complaint about something that is being considered by the courts, for example in family court proceedings, the council complaints team will not consider the complaint until the court case has finished; however, there may be elements of the complaint that are not covered by the court proceedings, which could be handled by the council – your complaints team will be able to advise you
- council policies or procedures – a complaint about incorrect application of council procedure, and therefore a potential fault in its decision-making, would be handled by the complaints procedure; however, if the complaint is about the content or wording of a council’s policy or procedure this cannot be dealt with through the complaints procedure – a more appropriate way of handling this would be for councillors to discuss the issue when the policy is next revised, and for the complainant to express their views when the policy next goes out for public consultation
- something unreasonable – you may become aware of a complainant who makes unreasonable complaints persistently – refer these to your complaints team.
If you are in any doubt about any of the above, seek advice from your council's complaints team, or refer the complaint directly to them.
Log the complaint
The complaints you receive could be made by email, letter, telephone or in person. However a complaint is made, it is important that you keep a documented record of it. This could be in electronic or hard copy format, although electronic records stored on your computer are easier and less time-consuming to store and retrieve.
You need to record the information you gathered earlier, as listed in the checklist, as well as any actions you have taken or are planning to take, with dates and times. To make sure you record the appropriate information each time, create a document template with headings based on the checklist. Advise the complainant to keep their own records of whom they speak to and when.
How you store complaints records, and any associated documentation, is as important as the actual records you create. It is worth taking some time to consider your requirements, particularly in the context of service improvement. For example, you might want to be able to:
- see how many complaints you have received about a particular service area
- check which complaints have yet to be resolved
- review similar complaints made by different people, for comparison
- sort the complaints by service area, complaint, complainant, date, status, and so on
- view all the documented evidence that supports a complaint
- update information or add documentation.
Be mindful that information you record could be subject to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and could potentially be seen by the complainant. Keep the information factual and non-judgmental, and avoid making any personal comments.
A good way of keeping track of records is to maintain a spreadsheet with quick-reference information, which you can use to sort information, update progress or actions and reference where you have saved associated documentation, such as a detailed summary of the complaint. This doesn’t need to be complicated, keep it as simple as you need it to be or make it as complicated as you like!
The table below shows you an example. Notice how:
- a code has been used for the service area: ' TH' refers to t ransport and h ighways and ' EW' refers to environment and waste
- the status has been colour-coded for quick reference
- a reference code has been created from the date (YYMMDD format), service area and surname – this can be used to prefix any folder or file names.
Challenge 2 – What are your complaints record requirements?
Think about:
- how you want to use information about the complaints you receive
- any ideas you have for keeping your records.
Make some notes to develop your preferred approach to recording complaints.
Hints and tips – naming files and folders
If you prefix electronic file or folder names with the date in the format YYMMDD, they will appear in date order if sorted alphabetically.
A good way to include a reference to someone’s name is to use the first four letters of their surname and the first letter of their first name; for example, Martin Williams would be WILLM.
Make a reference in your records to the type of complaint, or the service area to which it relates – this will help you to quickly identify similar records.
Use templates for documents – this will remind you of what information to include.
However you decide to manage your records, be consistent! Consistency is the key to managing them successfully.
Respond to the complainant
Once you have decided whether your council should handle a complaint, identified any reasonable adjustments required, raised any safeguarding issues, and logged all the information, you are ready to respond to the complainant and refer the complaint to the appropriate place.
Taking information from your records, provide the complainant with a written summary of the complaint (this can be by email), remaining non- judgemental and using the complainant’s own words where possible. This will help to check your understanding. Also include any actions you have taken or plan to take.
If the complaint is related to services provided by your council it will be handled by your complaints team, so provide the complainant with information about your council’s complaints process, how to proceed with the complaint and what your involvement will/will not be. It is good practice for you to communicate with the complaints team yourself, so they are aware of your contact with the complainant. Make sure to pass on all the information you have gathered to date, including any supporting evidence.
If the complaint needs to be handled by another authority, explain to the complainant why this is and provide as much information as you can to direct them to the appropriate place. Again, explain what involvement, if any, you will have from this point on.
Keep track of progress
Check on progress with the complaints team. It is important to keep in touch with the complainant so that they feel supported and confident that their complaint is being processed.
Remember to keep your records updated with progress, and to keep records of any meetings or conversations that take place.
Make sure you stick to the file naming and storage conventions you decided on earlier!
Resolution
At the end of the complaints procedure, the complaints team should notify the complainant of the outcome and what actions have or will be taken in response to the complaint.
It is good practice for you to contact them as well, to check that they are happy with the result and to formally close the matter with them.
If the complaints team decides the complaint cannot or will not be resolved by the council, the complainant can raise the matter with the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO). They can go directly to the LGO themselves, or you can complain on their behalf. Be sure to provide all the information you have been recording throughout the process.
The complainant also has the option of challenging the way a decision was made by the council (rather than the conclusion it reached) through a judicial review. However, legal action can be costly and complex for the complainant, while the local authority will usually be defended by an insurance company or their legal team.
You should not give legal advice. Refer your complainant to an organisation that can offer legal advice, such as Citizen’s Advice, Mind, or the Children’s Legal Centre.
Whatever the outcome, remember to update your records.