Council and democracy

Environment Department complaints procedure

The Environment Department aims to provide high quality services suited to the needs of our customers. We aim to do this with courtesy and efficiency. From time to time, things may go wrong. When this happens we want to put it right quickly and take action to prevent it happening again.

1. How to make a complaint

You can:

• Visit our website www.hertsdirect.org. Click on “Contact Us” and fill in an online complaint form, or
• Send in a completed “Have your Say” leaflet. This can be picked up in County Council offices including libraries or by contacting the Customer Service Centre on 01438 737321 or by emailing hertsdirect@hertscc.gov.uk.

If you prefer you can contact the Customer Services Manager directly:

Allison Short Customer Services Manager Environment Department County Hall Pegs Lane Hertford SG13 8DN

Telephone: 01992 555211

Email: allison.short@hertscc.gov.uk

2. What is a complaint?

It is dissatisfaction with the standard of service you have received or the way you have been treated. A complaint may arise if we have:

• made a mistake
• failed to do something we should have done
• acted unfairly or unreasonably
• acted unlawfully
• implemented a policy incorrectly

The complaints procedure does not cover:

• matters for which there is a right of appeal (either within the Council or to an independent tribunal)
• matters which are the subject of legal proceedings
• anything to do with an ongoing insurance claim against the County Council
• matters of county council policy which affect all or most people using the department’s services – if you wish to comment about a policy you can speak to your county councillor
• complaints about matters over which the department has no control e.g. services provided by district or borough councils
• one-off incidents such as faulty streetlights or potholes. We will deal with these as service requests. If something is not put right after you have told us about it (or if the same thing keeps going wrong) then we will deal with it as a complaint.

3. How will my complaint be dealt with?

There are three stages:

Stage 1 – Local problem solving stage

Stage 2 – Formal independent review by the Environment Department’s Customer Services Manager

Stage 3 – Formal review of findings at stage 2 by the County Secretary

We will treat all complaints confidentially. Anonymous complaints will not usually be considered but the Customer Services Manager may decide to investigate if the matter is serious.

Contractors or agents provide many of our services. In some cases, the contractor or agent may be asked to investigate the complaint. We will let you know if this is the case.

Complaints against a County Councillor or a Chief Officer will be referred to the County Secretary.

If a complaint involves more than one department, a lead department will be appointed to handle the complaint.

If you need any help or support to make your complaint, please let us know and we will try to arrange it.

4. Stage 1 – Local problem solving stage

We try to resolve complaints quickly through informal discussion with the people involved in providing the service. Stage 1 is the first step in trying to resolve your complaint. If we consider your complaint is very complex or serious, we may go straight to stage 2.

Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days of us receiving it. We will tell you who is going to be looking into it and when you should receive a response. This is usually within 10 working days although sometimes we may need longer. We will let you know if this is the case.

A manager of the service will look into your complaint and will provide you with a response. This can be by letter or email or, if you prefer, a telephone call.

This will bring stage 1 to an end. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you should tell us within 28 working days.

5. Stage 2 – Independent review by the Customer Services Manager

If you are not satisfied with the response to your complaint, you can write to the Customer Services Manager and ask for your complaint to be reviewed. It helps us if you can explain the reasons why you are not satisfied. The Customer Services Manager will decide whether your complaint should progress to the next stage. In some cases, it may be appropriate for another senior manager to investigate your complaint. We will let you know if this is the case.

If so, we will acknowledge your complaint within three working days and let you know when you will receive a full response. This should be within 28 working days although sometimes we may need a little longer. We will tell you if we need more time.

You will be asked if you would like to meet with the Customer Services Manager to discuss your complaint further. This is often helpful to allow us to understand your complaint better. You can be accompanied at any meeting by a friend or representative and also by an interpreter, if required.

The review may include interviewing officers and obtaining files and documents relating to the case.

Once the review is completed, a draft report will be produced. We will circulate this to all people involved including yourself. This draft will show the evidence that was obtained from the review. You can tell us whether you believe it is correct or whether we have missed anything important. We will look at all the comments that we receive and amend the report if necessary. The report will then be completed and sent to the Director of Environment.

The Director will consider the report and then send a full reply to you together with a copy of the report. This will tell you whether we agree with your complaint and what action we propose to take.

This is the end of stage 2. If you are not satisfied, you should tell us within 28 working days.

6. Stage 3 – Formal review by the County Secretary

If you are still unhappy after the stage 2 review you can ask for your complaint to be considered by the County Secretary.

The County Secretary will acknowledge your complaint within three working days. An officer of the County Secretary’s Department will be nominated to review the stage 2 complaint. You will be told the name of the officer and when you should expect a response. This is usually within 28 working days. If more time is needed to complete the review, you will be informed in writing.

You will receive a full reply telling you whether your complaint is agreed and what action will be taken.

7. If you are still not satisfied

You can ask the Local Government Ombudsman to look at your complaint. An information booklet is available at all main offices of the county council.

You can contact the LGO Advice Team as follows:

Telephone: Mon-Fri 8:30am-5pm 0845 602 1983

Address: Local Government Ombudsman PO Box 4771 Coventry CV4 0EH

Email: advice@lgo.org.uk

Text: 0762 4804323

8. Freedom of Information/Environmental Information Regulations

If you are unhappy with the way we have handled your freedom of information or environmental information request, it will be investigated under stage 2 of the complaints procedure.

9. Your views are important

We welcome your views about the services that we provide. This helps us to check that we are giving the best service we can and know when we need to make improvements.

You can let us know what you think at any time by:

• speaking to the person who provides the service
• leaving your comments online at www.hertsdirect.org
• phoning or writing to us
• completing the Have Your Say leaflet

We try to make our complaints procedure as effective and easy to use as possible. To do this, we send out a questionnaire to all people who have used our procedure. We record and monitor all complaints. Completed questionnaires help us to know the age, disability, ethnicity and gender of people using the procedure. The Council will not reveal your identity unless you have agreed to this.

If a complainant (or any witness to a complaint) intimates a racial incident then that aspect will be investigated and recorded.

For further information:

To contact the Environment Department for any other information, please call our customer service centre on 01438 737321 – callers from 01923 or 0208 dialling codes may wish to call 01923 471321 to be charged at local call rates. Lines are open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 4pm on Saturdays.

Information can also be found online at www.hertsdirect.org