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

Thank you for your request for Information made under the Freedom of Information Act.

Your request will now be dealt with and a response will be sent within 20 working days.

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Dear Mr Nunn

Figures for "the last 12 months" are not available as the data is collected on the basis of a financial year - April to March. So, for the period April 1st 2007 to March 31st 2008, 160 complaints were dealt with by the Ombudsman. In that same period the Council received 2696 complaints through its Fair Comment complaints process. This means the Ombudsman dealt with 5.93% of all complaints received.

No complaints were dealt with by the Police or the courts. So, the answer to your second and third questions is 0%.

This response should answer your request in full, however if you are not satisfied with this response or wish to lodge an appeal against any exemptions that may have been applied, you can do so by writing to the Data Protection Officer at Bristol City Council Legal Services, The Council House, College Green, Bristol, BS99 7PH or [Bristol City Council request email]. Details of the complaints procedure can be found at http://www.bristol-city.gov.uk/complaints.

If, after you have exhausted the council's complaints procedure, you are still not satisfied with the response you have received you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner, details of your right to complain can be found at http://www.ico.gov.uk/complaints.aspx

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Tim Sheppard
Corporate Complaints Manager
0117 922 2233
[email address]

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