London Borough of Camden
Corporate complaints policy 2008
Our definition of a complaint
A complaint is any expression of dissatisfaction with our services, whether justified or not.
Our objectives
A consistent process
We want to give our service users a fair, consistent and structured process to get a remedy for failures in the delivery of our services.
A positive process
We will use the outcome of complaints and any remedial action as a positive method of monitoring performance and improving our services.
A quality process
Our objective is to:
Improve the quality of the services we provide
Improve our relations with service users
Encourage best practice by our staff
Operate within the statutory, regulatory and legal framework
A process that values diversity
We recognise and value all of the people who live in Camden. Our objective is to break down barriers to complaining to make sure everyone can use the complaints policy.
Local Government Ombudsman
We welcome helpful criticism by the Local Government Ombudsman. However, our objective must be to identify our own failures and resolve them reasonably and quickly.
Our aims
Our service users have a right to:
Have their views heard
Receive a good-quality service
Expect prompt action when our performance is below standard, balanced by the resources we have available.
Complaints policy: Page 2 Version: 3.5 Date : 31/10/08
Our staff will be:
Efficient and sensitive to the needs of service users
Accessible and clearly identified
Aware of the day-to-day concerns of our service users.
Our procedure will:
· Be easy to access and widely advertised
· Advise service users of the standard of service they should expect, a time limit for replying to their complaint and any right of appeal
· Provide a code of practice for handling complaints
· Ensure we monitor complaints
· Ensure we meet our standards
Principles of the complaints policy
The formal complaint policy is based on the principle of a two-stage process.
Local resolution by service department (Maximum duration 20 working days)
A system for handling complaints at the point of service delivery.
Review Stage (Maximum duration 25 working days)
A system for the Central Complaints Unit to review the outcome of a Local resolution complaint
The complaints policy will apply both to services we provide and services where we have a responsibility such as contracted services.
We will deal with all complaints:
· Promptly
· Efficiently
· Courteously
· Systematically
We will acknowledge the complaint within two working days with a letter stating:
· What will be done?
· How long before a reply will be given
· Who to contact about the complaint
We will keep the complainant informed about:
· The progress of our investigation of the complaint
· The final outcome (in writing)
When replying to a complaint, we will inform the complainant of any right of further redress, such as:
· Central Complaints Unit (Review Stage)
· Local Government Ombudsman (after Review Stage)
After the complaint has been dealt with, we will ask the complainant to complete a satisfaction form to give comment on how we handled the complaint.
When appealing against a previous decision, we will ask the complainant to state their dissatisfaction with how we handled the complaint. We will also ask them to tell us what they consider to be the nature of service failure.
The Central Complaints Unit will give information and advice about all stages of our scheme. The Central Complaints Unit will prepare an annual report on the complaints policy for both members of the council and service users.
Vexatious complaints
We may, at any stage of the complaints policy, review a complaint and give a decision, without a formal investigation, where a Chief Officer or the Head of the Central Complaints Unit considers it to be deliberately repetitious or vexatious.
Service department schemes
Each service department will provide a contact number of an officer with responsibility for giving advice on complaints.
The service dealing with the complaint can record information about complaints:
· Gender, disability and ethnicity of the service user
· Subject of complaint
· Action taken (with dates)
· Name(s) of officer(s) dealing with the case
The service will monitor the progress of a complaint to ensure the complainant receives a reply within the appropriate time limit.
If an investigation finds that the council's disciplinary procedure should apply, that procedure will take precedence.
Each service/department will regularly monitor complaints and give summary reports to service management teams.
Helpline
The Central Complaints Unit will be a central point of information for advice and information. They will also co-ordinate and advise on the operation of the corporate complaints policy.
Complaints by Councillors and Members of Parliament
The complaints policy is intended for individual citizens to seek redress. Councillors and MPs may bring a formal complaint by acting as their constituent’s advocate.
Complaints against the Central Complaints unit
If the recipient of a Review Stage decision has a complaint against the way the Central Complaints Unit carried out the investigation, they can complain to the Head of the Central Complaints Unit. The Head of the Central Complaints Unit or another senior manager will investigate the complaint and reply within 15 working days.
Extending time limits
If translation or interpretation is required, we may extend the time limit by 7 days.
If the complaint is complex, we may extend the time limit subject to the consent of the complainant.
In both cases, we will keep the complainant informed of the new deadline.
Special Cases
We intend, where possible, to allow a complaint to be dealt with under this procedure. The only exceptions relate to some statutory and legal limitations: Some examples are
· A Town and Country Planning appeal against refusal of planning permission
● a complaint where the customer or the Council has started legal proceedings or has taken court action but not cases where a customer has simply threatened to start legal proceedings against the council
· A complaint that has already been heard by a court or tribunal, including the council's Benefit Review Procedure
· A complaint about adult social care or children’s issues covered by the statutory procedures
· A school admission or exclusion appeal
· A staff complaint about a personnel matter, including appointments, dismissals, pay, pensions and discipline (but not from staff as service users)
· A complaint about council policy
· A complaint about the issue of a penalty charge notice by the parking control service (except administrative issues) and the recovery process thereof, which are subject to a separate appeal process
* A complaint against the refusal of disabled badges for parking exemption (where a special appeal process applies)
If for any reason we cannot review a complaint under the corporate procedure, we will give an explanation when replying to the complaint.
Confidentiality
Any complaint processed through the procedure will be dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information Act
Remedies
“The remedy needs to be appropriate to the injustice, and should as far as possible put the complainant in the position he or she would have been in but for the maladministration.
There will be many circumstances where this cannot be achieved because of the passage of time or of events, which have occurred. In such cases financial compensation may be the only available proxy.”
Local Government Ombudsman (1997)
The investigating officer should always consider whether any practical action could provide all or part of a suitable remedy. For example, ensure necessary repairs are completed or assess entitlement to a benefit and make the payment. The investigating officer may also consider any practical action suggested by the complainant.
The investigating officer (at any stage) may, where appropriate, authorise the payment of compensation to the complainant, up to a maximum of £5,000 payable from the relevant service department's budget. If the investigating officer considers that the level of compensation should be higher, the Chief Officer may progress any such payments in accordance with their delegated powers and as provided under the Council’s Constitution.
Complaints policy: Page 2 Version: 3.5 Date : 31/10/08
Guidance on the payment of compensation is attached as an appendix.
Good practice guidance for staff
The Central Complaints Unit will distribute and update the following publications:
Dealing with complaints. A good practice guide for staff
Investigating complaints. A good practice guide for managers
All enquiries regarding Camden’s Corporate Complaint Policy 2008 (effective from 31 October 2008) should be referred to the Central Complaints unit, CSP department, Room 322, Camden Town Hall Judd Street WC1H 9JE (Phone: 0207 974 5644) (Email: )
Complaints policy: Page 2 Version: 3.5 Date : 31/10/08
Appendix A (Guidance on compensation payments)
Final reports finding maladministration and injustice (Local Government Ombudsman)
If an investigating officer finds maladministration and injustice, he or she should always consider making a compensation payment to complainant for their time and trouble in making the complaint.
The investigating officer may include a time and trouble element unless the time and trouble and minor associated costs are insignificant or the time and trouble element would be inappropriate given the facts of the case.
A time and trouble payment should be some compensation for time and trouble reasonably and legitimately expended by the complainant in having to pursue the complaint with the council and the Local Government Ombudsman. The payment may also include minor items of expenditure and financial loss that are not otherwise taken into account in the compensation recommended.
A guideline figure for a time and trouble payment is £250. However, the amount should be determined given the facts of the case and may, depending on the circumstances, differ significantly from the guideline. A lower amount may be appropriate but would not normally be less than £25. In exceptional cases, a higher amount could be recommended, up to a normal maximum of £500.
The investigating officer should consider all relevant factors including, for example:
The passage of time, including response times by the council related to the nature of the problem
Amount of time expended by the complainant
Difficulty experienced by the complainant in dealing with the council
The degree of inadequacy of the council’s responses to letters, phone calls and visits
Whether the inadequate response of the council resulted to any extent from wilful action, as opposed to poor administration
· The level of minor or generally unquantified expenses incurred by the complainant (such as significant postage or telephone costs, travel costs, loss of earnings) excepting significant quantified expenses (such as legal or other professional fees) that are separate elements of compensation
· The complainant is acting on behalf of others (such as a secretary of a tenants' association or one complainant pursuing a complaint on behalf of a group of complainants)
9
Compensation Appendix to Policy: Page Version: 2.2 Date: 30/9/08
The investigating officer may separately specify a time and trouble payment or the compensation recommended may be a composite sum including time and trouble. If a composite sum is recommended, the investigating officer should clearly state that time and trouble has been taken into account.
Local settlements (Local Government Ombudsman)
Council officers may consider a time and trouble payment to achieve a local settlement of a complaint. Generally, time and trouble payments are less likely to be recommended for a local settlement but should be considered when sufficiently justified.
The time and trouble payment is likely to be lower than a payment recommended in a formal report finding maladministration and injustice.
Local resolution or Review Stages (Council’s complaints policy)
Council officers may consider a time and trouble payment after a full investigation of a complaint. Generally, time and trouble payments are less likely to be recommended but should be considered when sufficiently justified.
Penalty payments (Council’s complaints policy)
Council officers may apply a penalty payment of £10 per month where unreasonable delay in replying to a complaint has occurred.
9
Compensation Appendix to Policy: Page Version: 2.2 Date: 30/9/08