Complaints Policy

Mole Valley District Council (MVDC) has an ongoing commitment to improving services. Receiving complaints from customers is an important part of ensuring that we continue to deliver services to the satisfaction of our customers. We treat complaints as an opportunity to make improvements immediately and in the future.

As in all of our contact with customers, we will respond to complaints courteously, fairly and efficiently. This complaints policy forms part of our overall customer care standards.

What is a complaint?

You can complain to us about our action or lack of action or about the standard of a service, whether the action taken or the service provided was by our own staff or by a person or body acting on our behalf.

We will not usually investigate a complaint that is more than 12 months old.

A complaint can be spoken or written. If you need assistance to make a complaint, please contact us.

What is not a complaint?

Complaints are not:

• A request for a service (e.g. deal with noise nuisance)
• A request for information or an explanation of Council Policy (e.g. why Council Tax is set at such a level)
• Matters for which there is a right of appeal to an independent tribunal (e.g. planning application) or where there is a right to take legal action
• Insurance matters
• Issues concerning the conduct of a councillor. Please see our Standards of Conduct page or call customer services on 01306 885001.

Why do we have a Complaints Policy?

Our Complaints Policy helps us to ensure that:

• We comply with the Ombudsman’s Complaint Handling Code
• You know how to raise a complaint if you are dissatisfied with our initial response to your enquiry
• We investigate complaints thoroughly and respond effectively and fairly
• We follow our process, keeping you informed of progress and the outcome of your complaint
• We put things right where we can and we look for opportunities to make improvements for the future
• We provide an explanation if we believe your complaint is not justified
• Complaints are centrally monitored across the Council

Complaint Handling Process

We expect that the majority of issues will be resolved informally when taken up directly with the Service responsible.

If you have an issue that the member of staff you have initially dealt with is unable to resolve, then you should ask to be put in contact with the relevant manager. You can find out who this person is by calling Customer Services on 01306 885001. Or you can use our online complaint form on our website.

If, after you have contacted the manager, you are still not satisfied that your issue has been satisfactorily resolved, then you should use the formal complaints process set out below.

Stage 1

You can register a formal complaint with the Council’s Customer Care Officer, who will carry out an independent investigation with the appropriate officer(s). To do this please use our online complaints form, email complaints@molevalley.gov.uk or write to The Customer Care Officer, Mole Valley District Council, Pippbrook, Dorking, Surrey RH4 1SJ.

If you are unable to put your complaint in writing, you can ask to speak to the Customer Care Officer by calling 01306 885001.

You will be sent an acknowledgement of your complaint within 3 working days and a full response to your complaint within 10 working days. On rare occasions a complaint may need more time to investigate and if this is the case we will inform you in writing about the anticipated length of time involved.

Stage 2

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Stage 1 decision, you can escalate the matter to Stage 2. The Customer Care Officer will receive your Stage 2 complaint and refer it to the Chief Executive, who will assign an appropriate manager to re-examine the evidence and give a judgement.

An acknowledgement will be sent within 3 working days and a full written response sent within 10 working days. On rare occasions a complaint may need more time to investigate and if this is the case we will inform you in writing about the anticipated length of time involved.

Complaint against an Executive Head of Service

If your original complaint is concerning an Executive Head of Service, we will investigate your complaint from Stage 2 of the Complaints Policy. Contact details for the Customer Care Officer can be found under ‘Stage 1’.

Complaint against the Chief Executive

If your original complaint is concerning the Chief Executive of the Council, then please contact the Customer Care Officer who will direct it to the Leader of the Council.

Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman

The Ombudsman is independent of Government or local councils and is the final stage for complaints about councils. The service they provide is free. They investigate complaints in a fair and independent way and do not take sides.

The type of complaint they will investigate will include whether we gave you incorrect information, made a decision in the wrong way, treated you unfairly, did not follow our own rules or the law or took too long to do something. There are some matters that the Ombudsman cannot investigate, please see the ‘what we can and cannot look at’ section of the Ombudsman’s website at www.lgo.org.uk.

Before the Ombudsman can investigate a complaint, MVDC must be given an opportunity to answer the complaint by going through the two stages of our complaints policy.

If we have been unable to resolve your complaint within a reasonable time or if your problem has not been put right at Stage 2, you can complain to the Ombudsman. In most cases, you will need to have complained to them within 12 months of becoming aware of the matter and have been directly affected by it, which is called ‘personal injustice’.

Privacy

Mole Valley District Council has a duty to protect your personal data and keep it secure. To view a copy of our Privacy Notice, please visit our website www.molevalley.gov.uk or contact the Customer Care Officer.

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