Compliments and Complaints
Complaints Information for County Councillors
The Complaints & Appeals Team is the main point of contact for the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO) and all council customer feedback (complaints, comments and compliments) and they also undertake all School Admission, Transport, Exclusion Appeals.
Definition
A complaint is different from a service request.
A service request is defined as:
"a request that the organisation provides or improves a service, fixes a problem or reconsiders a decision’.
A complaint is:
“‘an expression of dissatisfaction, however made, about the standard of service, actions or lack of action by the organisation, its own staff, or those acting on its behalf, affecting an individual or group of individuals."
The complaints procedure is not intended to be used for service requests. We first need to have the opportunity to deal with such matters under our 'business as usual' processes.
Process
By law, the council must consider complaints about the following matters under separate procedures and timescales set by law:
These are:
- Complaints about social care issues relating to children. These complaints have 3 stages and must involve independent people.
- Complaints about social care issues relating to adults have a single stage and must be jointly investigated with the NHS if they also involve health services.
Any other service (e.g. Inclusion Services, Highways and Transport) is subject to the non-statutory Corporate Complaints Procedure which deals with all complaints where there is not a specific or legal procedure to deal with the matter. This is a 2 stage, officer led process.
Once complainants have exhausted council complaints processes, if they are still dissatisfied with the response, they can request for the LGSCO to investigate the matter, as the council regulator.
Complaints about schools by law should be directed to the school involved. School complaints are generally not a matter for the county council.
For any queries about signposting constituents to the correct process, please ring the complaints and appeals team on 01772 539414 or email complaintsandfeedback@lancashire.gov.uk.
More information and complaints / compliments and comment forms can be found on the LCC website here:
http://www.lancashire.gov.uk/council/get-involved/compliments-comments-complaints.aspx
The LGSCO has also produced a handy guide for Councillors here: