Complaints

How Do I Complain?

If you have a complaint about a service (other than Complaints relating to Schools or Complaints relating to Freedom of Information) that you have received or belief you should receive, then please follow the steps outlined below:

Informal Stage

1. Discuss your concerns with the member of staff dealing with your matter or with their immediate supervisor and identify where you feel the service delivery has not been up to standard and what outcome you would wish.  You can do this in person, by telephone, in writing or by email/on-line
2. If you are not sure who to contact please call our Contact Centre staff on (01437) 764551 who will be happy to help you
3. Your concerns will be considered within 10 working days

Most problems can be quickly sorted out in this informal way

Formal Stage

If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of the Informal Stage, please inform the relevant designated Contact Officer of the reasons for your dissatisfaction and what your desired outcome would be.

1. The Designated Contact Officer will acknowledge your complaint within five working days
2. The Designated Contact Officer will appoint an investigator to look into your complaint and, in complex cases and complaints related to a service provided to a child, an external investigator may be appointed. You will usually be informed of the outcome within 20 working days
3. If we are unable to reply within 20 working days, we will write and tell you why and let you know when you can expect a full reply 

We hope our complaints procedure will help resolve any problems you may have with the way our services are provided

What can I do if I want to complain further?

Our experience is that the majority of complaints can be resolved internally through our own complaints procedure. However, you are within your rights to approach the Public Service Ombudsman for Wales (the Ombudsman) at any stage during the process.

The Ombudsman is an independent organisation appointed by the Welsh Government to look into complaints of maladministration (bad practice) against public services. They will usually want to know if your complaint has been considered under the Council's Complaints Policy first, before starting an investigation.

So please try our complaints procedure first

The address for the Ombudsman is:

Public Service Ombudsman for Wales

1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae, Pencoed, Bridgend, CF35 5LJ

0845 6010987 (calls charged at local rate)

ask@ombudsman-wales.org.uk

www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk