Rother District Council

THE COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

Complaints

Rother District Council is committed to providing the highest standard of services to its residents and customers - as effectively and courteously as possible.

To do this we need you to tell us when we don't meet your expectations. We would also be grateful to be told whether there are any improvements to the way we provide our services that you would like to see, sometimes your suggestions can help us to make our service better.

Making A Complaint

Sometimes we may do something wrong or maybe we haven't done something you think we should have done. When things go wrong we want to know, to have the chance to put things right, learn by our mistakes and avoid making them again.

Please contact us, either;

• By post: you can either send a letter or print off, complete and send our  complaints feedback form [PDF] [80kb] to Customer Services - Complaints, Rother District Council, Town Hall, Bexhill On Sea, East Sussex TN39 3PE
• Via email to complaintsmanager@rother.gov.uk. Again you can also use our  complaints feedback form [PDF] [80kb] by printing off, completing, scanning and attaching the form to your email.
• Through our web site www.rother.gov.uk, using the contact us facility

We ask that you provide your name, address and postcode, plus a telephone number or email address to enable us to contact you quickly if we need further information. We also need you to explain what you think has gone wrong and how it has affected you, with the facts including any relevant dates and times. Please also tell us what you would like to happen as a result of your complaint.

Formal Complaints Procedures

In some instances there are special complaints and appeals procedures (such as disagreement with Housing benefit entitlement ) which are set in law. If these apply we will let you know.

If you are reporting a defect, such as broken play equipment, or if you are requesting a service, such as Pest Control, please contact the our Customer Services team on 01424 787000, who will be able to assist.

What happens next?

Your complaint will be dealt with as follows;

• We will record the details of your complaint, which will be dealt with by a senior manager in the appropriate team.
• We will send you a letter within 10 working days of receiving your complaint to either respond in full or advise when you can expect a response.
• You will be informed of the name of the officer who is dealing with your complaint and contact details.
• We will tell you if a fault has been found and explain what will happen to put things right.
• We will explain the options to you if you are not satisfied with our response.
• We will take notice of what has happened, and learn from it to avoid making the same mistakes in future.

If you are still unhappy

This situation is very rare. In some cases we may have to ask you to accept a decision as being a result of financial, legal or wider policy implications. If you are still unhappy with the way we have dealt with your complaint, or believe that the Council has been involved in maladministration, then you can contact the Local Government Ombudsman. We will send you a leaflet which explains how to do this. Or you can pick up a leaflet at any of our Community Help Points. You can also contact the Ombudsman direct at;

The Local Government Ombudsman
PO Box 4771
Coventry
CV4 0EH

Telephone their advice team on 0300 061 0614/0845 602 1983,

Email: advice@lgo.org.uk
Web: www.lgo.org.uk

However, the Ombudsman requests that complaints are initially made to your Council in the first instance, to give us the opportunity to resolve matters for you.

If your complaint relates to a Councillor, then please view the Members Code of Conduct

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