Dear Sir or Madam,

Pre-question clarification: A complaint against a council may
consist purely on an administrative error or it may also include a
potentially criminal act and/or infringements of a complainants
civil rights (legal and/or human rights).

Therefore, I would like the following information, over the last 12
months, as a percentage of total complaints against the council how
many ended up being dealt with by,

1)the Local Government Ombudsman?

2)the Police?

3)Solicitors and/or the courts?

Yours faithfully,

Trevor R Nunn

Brent Council - INFORMATION REQUEST

Our Reference: 434119
====================================================

Dear Mr Nunn

Thank you for your email of 6 October requesting information about the
Council's complaints procedure.

Brent Council's complaints procedure covers administrative and operational
matters only. It does not look into potentially criminal acts or alleged
infringements of a complainant's civil rights.

You asked firstly, over the past 12 months, as a percentage of total
complaints against the Council, now many ended up being dealt with by

(1) the Local Government Ombudsman. In 2007 - 2008 the Council dealt with a
total of 3,699 complaints under its own procedure. During that period only
60 complaints that had been previously considered under the Council's
procedure went to on the Local Government Ombudsman - 1.6%.

(2) the Police. We do not hold that information. I am not aware of any.

(3) solicittors and/or the courts. We do not hold that information. I am
aware of one complaint which the complainant pursued to the courts after it
had been considered through the Council's complaints procedure.

Full information about the operation of the Council's complaints procedure
can be found on the Council's website www.brent.gov.uk/complain. The Annual
Report for 2007/2008 will be posted there shortly, once it has been
considered by Members.

I hope that this response answers your queries. If you are dissatisfied with
the response or how the Council has handled your request you can complain to
the Council by writing to the following address: Corporate Information
Manager at Brent Council, Room 105, Brent Town Hall, Forty Lane, Wembley,
Middlesex HA9 9HD, telephone 020 8937 1156, e-mail [Brent Borough Council request email]. It is
the Council's policy to ensure that, where practicable, your complaint is
dealt with by someone who was not involved in the original decision.

You also have a right of appeal about our decision to the Information
Commissioner, however, the Information Commissioner will not normally
consider an appeal until you have exhausted your rights of redress and
complaint to the Council. The Information Commissioner can be contacted as
follows:
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF; Telephone: 01625 545 700,
www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk
As part of our commitment to improve our service to our customers we would
welcome any feedback on the way that we have dealt with your request.

Yours faithfully

Susan Riddle,
Corporate Complaints Manager

Phone: (020) 8937 1041
[email address]
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